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Heritage preserved
The development of a society is measured in terms of the conservation of its knowhow and the protection of its cultural diversity value of objects, their symbolic role in life’s rituals and their relationship to individual productive territories. A new conception of growth that unites companies, researchers, artists and designers in the search for innovation which will not nullify the past. This vision inevitably reclaims the value of “savoir faire,” which is a measure of the development of a society and a protection of its cultural diversities. In line with an approach that has heightened the prestige and style of one of the most distinguished Italian fashion brands (and, at the same time, has safeguarded and developed an important manufacturing sector), Gucci is taking up a new challenge which has cultural and business relevance. The goal is to restore one of the most prestigious porcelain manufactories in history and to accomplish an even more ambitious task: to rekindle our lost emotional bond with objects and to foster the appreciation of the tangible value that is the product of art coupled with savoir faire. The new beginning of Richard Ginori revives a 270-year heritage of excellence, knowhow, tradition and craftsmanship related to a precious and magical material: porcelain. The processing of the earth has given rise to many materials, of which porcelain is elegance and exquisiteness par excellence: the experimental material for painters and sculptor and the supreme manifestation of Oriental ceramic production. Coveted for centuries by
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European sovereigns and patrons, who endeavoured to find its original chemical formula (the history of porcelain began in China between the 7th and the 8th centuries AD, almost 1,000 years before the Europeans discovered its secret), porcelain became synonymous with refined culture, as it accompanied the rise and prestige of Europe’s most important courts. Unlike other material cultures, which followed a bottom-up development, with skills being passed from generation to generation, in Europe the culture of porcelain began and expanded among the aristocracy and merchant classes. Initially it had an elitist function, but gradually it became associated to social and family rituals that have crossed the centuries unaltered. In Tuscany, the Marquis Carlo Ginori was among the first in Europe to set up a rudimentary ceramic kiln in his villa at Doccia, Sesto Fiorentino, a small town near Florence. He started to produce hard-paste porcelain in 1735, and soon after founded the renowned Manufactory. In very little time, first under Carlo and later his son Lorenzo, Ginori became one of the most important porcelain factories in Europe. In 1896, Marquis Carlo Benedetto Ginori sold the Manufactory, which at that point had grown to industrial dimensions, to the Piedmontese entrepreneur Augusto Richard. The fusion of the Manifattura Ginori di Doccia with the Società Ceramica Richard gave rise to the Società Ceramica Richard-Ginori per Azioni. At the beginning of the 1900s, thanks to Gio Ponti’s successful artistic direction, the Società Ceramica Richard-Ginori per Azioni mingled with modernity, and creativity was almost entirely given over to design. Ponti was perhaps one of the few who was fully aware of the need to safeguard the expertise which had been accumulated in the course of time. His writings and projects clearly show his desire to introduce innovative elements in a “cultural manufacturing process.” For Ponti, modernity did not mean wiping out the past and starting over, but rather historic continuity. The same continuity which represents the primary value of the company’s new mission. Unsurprisingly, the first collections created under the new company structure, Art de la Table 2014, tapped into some of the best historic productions of the manufactory, in the name of continuity fuelled by innovation. Tuscany, Cartiglio, Paesaggio, Ciliegie, Contessa, Labirinto and Catene are some of the names of the collections, which represent the fusion of the contemporary with superior craftsmanship. The new Richard Ginori is following a path which recognises tradition as the driving force behind innovation and creativity, which gives value to our cultures and to the prestige of “savoire faire”. A wealth which also represent the founding values of Italian workmanship. The same union which enabled Gucci to acquire an undisputed leadership in the global luxury industry. The flagship store, situated in the historic Ginori palace in Florece, was recently renovated with the same spirit: back in 1802, the workshop in via de’ Rondinelli was the first glorious example of Made in Italy porcelains. Beautiful tablescapes adorned with porcelains from the new collections fill the exhibition rooms of the boutique and accompany the visitor in the discovery of renewed traditions which have been restored to their original splendour.
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