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Aldo Londi designed Mondrian vase made by Bitossi for Raymor in Italy.
Made sometime in the 1960’s…see info below (3 Telltale Signs Bitossi Is Fake)
This MCM style oval shaped vase has a glossy, wrap around, rectangular patch work design…glossy glazed in bright orange, red & brown, with dark brown borders around each patch of color.
There is light texturing on the red & yellow panels and heavier texturing on the brown panels.
It measures approximately 15.75" tall, 6.25" wide & 5" deep and weighs a hefty 8 pounds.
Preowned but in very good plus, plus condition…no cracks, repairs, or large chips…only issue is very minor tiny chipping on the base edge, in a few spots (can’t see unless you lift and look at bottom)…no other damage that I can see.
***Beautiful, somewhat rare vase***
3 Tell Tale Signs Your Bitossi Is Fake:
1. Flip It Over – Inspect the Marking:
The makers of Bitossi ceramics mark their pieces in several different ways. True Bitossi pieces have a written marking and the one you desire has a stamp! This simply indicates the age and who it was made for. The pieces that are written on are typically from the 1950’s and are an original Aldo Londi design. You should be proud to own one of these. If the makers mark is stamped, it simply means that that particular piece of beautiful Bitossi either did not pass inspection and was sold as a slightly defaulted piece, or that it was made slightly later in time (1960-1970 perhaps by another designer) and was sold to a second hand merchant who did not want the designers name on it. The marks to be aware of are ones that exclude the words and letters “Italy”, “B”, “Flavia”, and “Bitossi” in combination with a SMOOTH and FLAT unglazed bottom. The wrong combination will result in the dreaded ownership of a piece of FAKE Bitossi.
2. Keep It Up-Side-Down – Look at the Unglazed Portion
Now take a look at the unglazed portion. The unglazed portion of authentic Bitossi pottery is rough and concave. No ifs ands or buts about it. If it is not rough, it is certainly fake. If it is flat, it is certainly fake. No matter what marking you see, it has to be ROUGH and CONCAVE. I cannot stress this enough. ROUGH. CONCAVE. Done. Bringing us to our last sign just so you can be 100 percent sure when showing off your collection.
3. The Glaze Itself – Do You Notice Visible Brush Strokes?
Logically, it would follow that an original piece touched and glazed by a real person should have signs of just that. After all, a print or lithograph does not have actual paint with brush strokes from the original artist. It was machine made. Anything man made should have signs of just that. Small imperfections, slightly different tones in various areas of the piece, and most importantly, streaks in the glaze or paint. This makes original Italian pottery that much more desirable. Each piece you own is slightly different from one another and this makes it that much more original and sought after.
