Archive of Contemporary Ceramics

The initial project aimed to document the ceramic production of Montelupo and the surrounding area, between the second half of the 1800s and the 1960s. The difficulty of finding information, documents and exemplars led to the decision to limit the area of research to those laboratories which play—or have played—an important cultural, artistic or industrial role. The identified laboratories were then visited with the aim of recovering precious materials, papers and artifacts, as well as creating a collection of oral histories. Numerous ceramicists were contacted for the project, including Aldo Londi, Alvino Bagni, Luciano Mancioli, Vittoriano Bitossi, and the Fanciullacci heirs.

These contacts led to generous donations from the creators, and examples of their works and documentary materials joined the earlier donations of Bruno Bagnoli and Tolmino Belucci.The first ten years of the project also aimed at raising public understanding and appreciation of this patrimony, through a number of encounters and exhibits. Today the archive includes ceramics donated by Alvino Bagni, Luciano Mancioli, the Fanciullacci Brothers and the Bitossi Flavia Factory. In addition to ceramics, the archive holds transfer designs, production catalogs, photographs, drawings and documents. The archive does not yet have a permanent residence. More information about the collections can be received from Marina Vignozzi Paszkowski at the Museo Montelupo Foundation.