The art of Cloisonné Meets Contemporary Design in Piccoli Smalti’s New Collection
The neo-Renaissance setting of the Bagatti Valsecchi Museum welcomes a preview of the new collection of Piccoli Smalti, the artistic project of Giovanna Ferrero Ventimiglia that explores the cloisonné enamel tradition, learned from her grandfather Renato Morganti, in dialogue with contemporary design. The highlight of the collection are then the Cloisonné Vases, made in a historic Murano furnace, playing with Art Deco and 1980s forms. Here black blown glass is enlighted by brilliant enamel, applied on brass, in an encounter of light and shadow. The collection continues with the Bamboo Cache-Pots, where black blown Murano glass cylinders are wrapped and supported by ground-fused bronze, which has been given the soft but solid shape of bamboo. The arrangement is then completed by one of Piccoli Smalti’s iconic pieces, the LEI Lamp, which gives soft light to the room with its soft curves and enamel detail at the top.
The idea of play also returns in the Forget Me Not Box in Natural Walnut, which recalls the curves of a breast and is crowned by a nipple in brass cast on the ground. In addition to this, Piccoli Smalti presents two other types of boxes: the Lacquer Cloisonné Box, where the enamel has been finely hand-engraved by Florentine artisans, and the Boobinga Wood Cloisonné Box, in which the texture of African wood contrasts perfectly with the translucent colors of the enamel.
Among the design pieces kept in the exhibit is the Table NOI, designed in hexagonal form, with the possibility of extracting six seats, making it a means of sharing, as well as design. The special feature of this wooden sculpture is the softness of its surface, made by means of linen cloth coated with wax. From the black of the table and seats, cloisonné enamel details emerge in a balance of functionality and elegance. In the words of Giovanna Ferrero Ventimiglia, Piccoli Smalti’s new collection aims to take the concept of cloisonné one step further than the idea of jewelry, placing it in an architectural dimension. The advice is to let touch be our guide in this exploration between ancient materials and contemporary forms. At the preview presentation of Piccoli Smalti, among those present—alongside Giovanna Ferrero—were Marta Sala, Paola Ruffo, Carl Pickering, Elisa Motterle, Paola Manfrin, Frank Matthias Kuntermann, Veronica Etro, Maria Beatrice Garagnani, and Alessandro Gabetti.
Text: Anna Zucca
Photos: Camilla Vazzoler
