Vintage Italian Redware Hand Painted Holly Charger

Vintage Italian Redware Hand Painted Holly Charger

Hand-made Italian redware majolica serving platter is decorated with leaves and berries in blue, green and red on creamy white background by Nicola Fasono.

The current Nicola Fasano was born in 1968. He comes from a very long and legendary line of Italian ceramists like Francesco Nicola Fasano, who in the 1200’s created ceramics for Isabella of Aragon from a cave just below the present modern factory. Another ancestor, also named Francesco Nicola, opened the first store in 1623 using an oven still in use today that has been carbon dated to be about 2400 years old.

Their work is seen in the most prestigious stores and museums around the world. One of the more famous stores is Gumps of San Francisco of which this plate still bears the label. Gumps according to Gumps is “The legendary destination for luxury gifts, jewelry, artful objects and home decor” and is famous for importing much of the best mid-century objects from around the world in the 1960’s – 1970’s. We do not know the age of this plate, but it probably falls into the mid-20th century era.

The platter measures 12.75″ round with slanting up rims. Permanently marked ‘ceramiche Nicola Fasano CNF Grottaglie Made in Italy’. The Gumps sticker reads ‘CG Gumps …San Francisco Made in Italy’. Weighs 2½ lbs.

It is in original condition, no crazing, glaze is bright and color-rich. There are a couple of maker’s misses (left by the artist) to mention; 1) There is a dash on the unglazed seat rim that is a bit concave and has glaze over it. The artist repaired it that way. 2) On the front of the platter there are 2 tiny spots where the cream glaze was missed by the artist. Both of these maker’s misses are typical of handmade ceramics.