1959, manufactured by Manifattura Ceramica Bitossi, Montelupo Fiorentino, Italy, 1959, polychrome glazed ceramic tiles, underglaze signature in the left panel: SOTTSASS, underglaze signature and date in the right panel: SOTTSASS /59 JR, consisting of three panels, 241 x 284 cm, depth 8 cm. (DRAX)

A unique piece. Exhibited in 1960 in the Atrium of the Triennial building in Milan on the occasion of the XIIth Triennial.

Purchased by the present owner in 1970 by Sergio Cammilli, the innovative founder of the Italian furniture manufacturer Poltronova, whose art director Sottsass became in 1958. Over the years, Cammilli realised numerous projects and designs by Sottsass. This monumental ceramic mural is a unique piece and an extraordinary example of the early collaboration between Ettore Sottsass and the Bitossi ceramic workshop, which began in 1955 with a series of plates and small ceramic objects.

Provenance:
Sergio Cammilli, Milan – private collection Tuscany, Italy, since 1970, purchased by Cammilli

Lit.:
Zodiac, no. 11, P. C. Santini, ‘Introduzione ad Ettore Sottsass jr’ - Domus, no. 360, ‘Atrio d’ingresso per la Triennale 1960’ - Interni, no. 478, 1998, pp. 84–89, ill. p. 88 (“Spazi con collezioni”) - F. Ferrari, Ettore Sottsass. Tutta la Ceramica, Turin, 1996, p. 16, ill.