Pair of ceramic table lamps by Marcello Fantoni, Florence, Italy, circa 1970

A rare pair of monumental glazed stoneware lamps by the Florentine ceramicist Marcello Fantoni (1915–2011), one of the leading figures of twentieth-century Italian art ceramics, whose works are held in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche in Faenza.

The hand-thrown ovoid bodies are covered in a poured glaze of remarkable chromatic subtlety: the creamy, frosted white of the upper section gradates into a bluish grey, then a deep midnight blue, punctuated by ashen streaks. Flecks of pyrite and textured crystalline effects (characteristic of Fantoni’s experiments with materials) enrich the surface, at once granular and luminous, revealing his mastery of firing.

Each piece is signed by hand on the underside.

The wiring has been entirely renewed by a professional (new socket and cabling). The cylindrical lampshades in natural ecru fabric have been made to measure by a shade-maker from the Decorative Arts sector, in perfect harmony with the tonality of the ceramics.