An extraordinarily sculptural biomorphic jug form vase with an integrated handle designed by Roberto Rigon for Bertoncello Ceramiche D'Arte, Italy.  It is clad in Bertoncello's typical creamy colored 'Screziato Havana' glaze and is raised on three shallow feet, giving the vase the illusion that it is floating.

BERTONCELLO CERAMICHE D'ARTE was originally established as LPB (the initials of the three founders) in the town of Schiavon in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy in 1956.  Founded by Giovanni Bertoncello and Messrs. Lini and Pizzato, the firm was renamed soon after Mr. Lini was replaced by Giovanni's brother, Felice Bertoncello.  (Pizzato was a financial backer.)  Giovanni Bertoncello was the creative force behind the company's early designs.  By the early 1970s, his artistic skill and entrepreneurial spirit led BERTONCELLO CERAMICHE to great successes, both in Italy and on the foreign market.  At the height of operations, it employed some 30 staff members.  The well-known artistic innovator Roberto Rigon collaborated with the company in the development of several popular forms and glazes before launching his own ceramics business in 1974 with his wife Maria Luigia and their children.

BERTONCELLO CERAMICHE D'ARTE is most famous for modern, sculptural, organic shapes that often feature rounded, recessed holes and integrated handles.  All items are molded from white clay and many are finished with a signature mottled, brown-and-beige glaze known as 'Screziato' (speckled, dappled) of which there were two types. 'Screziato Tobacco' is more brown than beige, while 'Screziato Havana' is more beige than brown.  Unfortunately, not much more is known about BERTONCELLO; its catalogs and archives were destroyed when it was shuttered in 1999.

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