Fratelli Fanciullacci, 1960s, (l. to r.) marked 8632 (35.5cm), 8634 (38cm), and 2/9 (30.5)

Fratelli Fanciullacci (FF) probably would have just been a ceramics footnote outside of Italy but for the efforts of author Mark Hill, whose chapter on FF in his book Alla Moda is the most (and possibly only) comprehensive overview of the company in English. He did a fine job of identifying a range of disparate works, all assumed to have been created by different companies, as having been produced by FF. And what a range they produced! They seemed to make every shape and form, large and small, and decorated their pieces in every manner available: sgraffito… sprayed-on glazes… painted glazes… tube-lined decor… abstract modernist patterns… floral designs… and on and on. Despite the disparate nature of their offerings, what all FF pieces had in common was a hand-made feeling. The three vases here are a good example of that; with their heavily carved bodies, delicately applied glazes and slight imperfections, they all carry the feel of an artist produced piece as opposed to one from a factory. Considering the average ceramic vase in a large store *cough, cough, Target* today is probably made in a factory by robots, I’m glad to have something from an era when things were made with a human touch.