Bagni Ceramiche, box with “Sea Garden” glaze, stamped “Italy”

Italian ceramics designer and manufacturer Alvino Bagni doesn’t receive as much critical love these days as his contemporaries Aldo Londi (principal designer at Bitossi) or Guido Gambone, but in the 60s and 70s he was just as successful as either. His current artistic reputation suffers a bit, I fear, from his prolific output; he made products which fit popular tastes at the time, but to our eyes today much of it has a rather anonymous flavor. His inventive “Sea Garden” glaze, as seen here, was a notable exception. First produced in 1960, Bagni created it as a homage to ancient Greek artifacts removed from the sea. Other factories made similar ranges (see Ceramano’s “Marcus” and Bitossi’s “Cinese” decor lines), but Bagni’s “Sea Garden” sold for over two decades because he understood what customers wanted: a well-made, functional piece which managed (despite being produced in the thousands) to have the look of something completely handmade. It’s a wonderful creation which — like its Grecian ancestors — has withstood the test of time.