LENCI (an acronym of “ludus est nobis constanter industria”) began producing painted ceramic figurines in 1927 when they wished to offer their customers not only the much-appreciated felt dolls they’d been producing since 1922, but also this new type of furnishing object in a wide range of designs and models. Animals, objects of everyday use, ladies dressed in the latest fashion, tasteful “nudes” and more, designed by a variety of artists, a few of whom had indubitable skill and creative talent. Some, to name but a few, such as Chessa, Dudovich, Beltrami, Sturani, Vacchetti, LeviMontalcini and Elena Konig-Scavini (the wife of the founding father Enrico) produced such a variety of models in just a few years that these articles won unexpected critical acclaim; in 1929 for example, the magazines Domus and Casabella published various pictures of Lenci ceramics with some very flattering articles on them.

The new products were a great success also with the general public, and it was a godsend for the company which employed over six hundred people in its factory in via Cassini 7, right in the centre of Turin, and had been sailing in troubled waters; thanks to these ceramics there was a marked upturn in business, and Lenci fired thousands of these charming little household sculptures. But the great world crisis of 1929, combined with the sanctions imposed on Italy for its war in Abyssinia, marked the end of the Scavini administration, so in 1933 Pilade Garella, the accountant who’d been keeping the company books for years, bought a major shareholding in Lenci from the owners, with Elena Konig-Scavini confirmed as Art Director, a position she continued to hold until 1940, when the company was taken over by the Garella brothers. The Turin works suffered severe damage during the war, but the Garella brothers (who had been joined also by Beppe, Pilade’s son and the new Art Director Mario Sturani) tenaciously rebuilt the areas that had been devastated by the bombing and went back into business producing new, more modern subjects such as Walt Disney figurines, the characters from Carosello (an Italian television advertising show), and Peynet’s lovers.

Unfortunately in 1964 the company stopped producing ceramics, although they continued the production of traditional cloth dolls in the new works located in via San Marino, producing limited editions of their most successful dolls from the 20’s and 30’s. The sudden demise of Beppe Garella in 1992 brought more changes to the management, with his young daughter Bibija taking the reins, bringing new ideas with her although never forsaking the company’s traditions, cultivating relations with the famous German manufacturer Sigikid and attempting to distribute the company’s product in the USA through the HSN TV channel, as well as collaborating with specialized shops. But in 1997 Bibija had to throw in the towel, and wound up the company. Today these historic Lenci ceramics and dolls are much sought after by collectors; they can be found on show in museums all over the world, and even in temporary exhibitions like the one held in Turin at Palazzo Madama: “Art and Industry in Turin. The Lenci adventure: furnishing ceramics 1927-1937” (in 2010) and “The invention and technique, Lenci plaster and ceramics” (in 2015).

Lenci provided the inspiration for other manufacturers who imitated their ceramics; in 1932, when the company was suffering its first downturn, Clelia Bertetti, a ceramist who’d been with the company from the start and was the head of the retouching department at the time, opened her own ceramics workshop with Piero Ducato in via Alpignano 16, Turin called “Le Bertetti”. The works, with a trademark consisting of the letters LeB, specialized in the mass production of quality pottery and terracotta articles of notable beauty, were often produced using a casting technique, very similar to the one used by Lenci. In 1942 the works were sold, but the company continued to produce its wares for another decade. In 1934 the art director Sandro Vacchetti left the company and established “Essevi” with Nello Franchini: it was the start of and excellent and imaginative production, also thanks to their collaboration with the sculptor Otto Maraini, Giovanni Grande and his wife Ines Panchieri Grande. During the Second World War the works were transferred to Carrù, in the province of Cuneo, and activity was limited. “Essevi”, returned to Turin in 1945, but then closed up shop in 1952 when Sandro Vacchetti stopped producing ceramics and for a few years dedicated himself exclusively to painting. In the early 60’s Sandro Vacchetti moved to Rome where he opened the “Crea” ceramics works.

At the beginning of the 1930’s Mrs Manna, a plastic artist and decorator also left “Lenci”, by now in serious economic difficulties, and opened her own works called “C.I.A” (Ceramica Italiana Artistica) in via Mondrone 10, Turin. For the autumn antiques sale Bolaffi Auctions will present a charming series of these little household sculptures, and while the selling value is not excessively high they do represent significant proof of the creative imagination and skill of these mid twentieth century Turin artists.

By Gianfranco Fina