Large Aldo Londi scroll vase for Bitossi, Italy, 1960s

Aldo Londi (1911-2003)
Montelupo Fiorentino, the original town of Londi, near Florence, has been an important center of pottery production since the Renaissance . In 1922, at the age of 11, Londi began working for Fratelli Fanciullacci, the leading ceramic workshop in the region at the time. After the Second World War - returning to Italy from South Africa, where he was a prisoner of war - Londi became the Artistic Director of Bitossi. He retained this position for more than 50 years and created more than 1,000 objects, from carafes and vases to clocks and animal figurines. From 1958, Londi began a fruitful collaboration with the legendary architect-designer Ettore Sottssas (1917-2007), who considered Londi an important mentor.