Exquisite memories: five traveling meetings to tell the story of ancient Ginori porcelain

It is turning 20 years old for the Amici di Doccia association, which has been promoting research, study, conservation and enhancement ofancient Ginori porcelain since 2003. To celebrate its 20th anniversary, the association has conceived and promoted Memorie squisite: la storia Ginori, a traveling narrative that writer and playwright Luca Scarlini will take to five cities from Sept. 26 to Nov. 29, 2023, telling the story of the manufactory in some of the places most closely linked to it. The cycle is organized in collaboration with the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan, the Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali - Musei Capitolini in Rome and Palazzo Madama in Turin, under the patronage of the City of Sesto Fiorentino and the Fondazione Museo Archivio Richard Ginori della Manifattura di Doccia.

“The purpose of the initiative,” says Livia Frescobaldi, president of the Amici di Doccia, “is to arouse the public’s curiosity and interest in the incredible history of Ginori porcelain, and we thought that the thousands of events narrated by Scarlini, so compelling as to seem straight out of the best of television series, were absolutely perfect for this purpose.”

The history of Ginori porcelain is an all-Tuscan story that began in 1737 in the hills of Sesto Fiorentino. Marquis Carlo Ginori (Florence, 1702 - Livorno, 1757) bought the Villa Buondelmonti where he founded the Manifattura di Doccia, named after the town where it was located.

The first of the five stages of the project will be held precisely on Tuesday, September 26, 2023 at 6 p.m. in that historic villa, now home to the Ernesto Ragionieri Municipal Library.

The second stage, on the other hand, will be held on Wednesday, October 11, 2023 in Florence, in the courtyard of Palazzo Ginori, the family’s main residence in the Tuscan capital. In this building, in fact, a chemistry and physics cabinet was founded in the first half of the 18th century, where the numerous experiments needed to find the right recipe for the porcelain mixture were conducted. Marquis Ginori subjected soil samples to chemical analysis and high temperature tests here, using the Florentine-made ustoria lens that is still preserved in the courtyard.

It will then continue on Friday, Oct. 27, in the Orangerie of the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan and on Wednesday, Nov. 8, in Rome, in the Pietro da Cortona room of the Pinacoteca of the Capitoline Museums. On Nov. 29, 2023, the Exquisite Memories meetings will close in Turin, in the Sala delle Feste of Palazzo Madama, which has always collaborated with the Friends of Doccia and hosted some significant exhibitions over the years, such as Gio Ponti and Richard-Ginori: The Elegance of Modernity, held between 2015 and 2016, which allowed the public to admire Gio Ponti’s extraordinary inventions, created in the decade 1923 -1933, when the Italian architect and designer became artistic director of the Sesto Fiorentino factory.

Ginori’s success was also due to the fact that it drew on the Florentine art collections, drawing life-size porcelain replicas of famous works such as the Venus de’ Medici or Cupidand Psyche, masterpieces unique in the world, not least because of their exceptional size, which no other European porcelain factory had ever managed to achieve. “Everyday objects,” concludes Luca Scarlini speaking about this series of encounters, “are the most mysterious because they disappear into the landscape, merging with nature. By investigating their stories we discover the secrets of men, their fantasies, their dreams, their chimeras.”

The series of meetings is made possible thanks to the valuable contribution of Bonhams, Carlo Colli, Alessandra di Castro, Lionardo Lorenzo and Alessandra Ginori Lisci, Ginori 1735 and Unicoop Firenze.

All meetings are free admission subject to availability. For only the Oct. 11 meeting at Palazzo Ginori, given the limited capacity, reservations are required by writing to info@amicididoccia.it. Places will be assigned according to the order of arrival of the reservation.

Exquisite memories: five traveling meetings to tell the story of ancient Ginori porcelain

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.