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The Table Lamp Collection The Production and Certification Process
Each collection is a limited set of 50 bedside/table ceramic lamps that reproduce 10 outstanding paintings from world-famous masters. The first series (The Bruegel Collection), now in the process of exhaustion, was announced in January 2006. This was followed, in March 2007, by the Canaletto Collection.
Each table lamp is faithfully and uniquely hand-reproduced 5 times. Each lamp in the collection is certified of Deruta’s origin, it is marked on the base with a progressive code number, the year of production, the initials of the manufacturer MOD Autori, and either on the side or underneath or both, with the artist's initials. It is accompanied by an international certificate and a brochure that guarantee quality, dimensions and weight (*1).
Few artists can work on ceramics following MOD Autori's standards and techniques. Even fewer can maintain the proportions and quality of colours (*2) of the original canvas. It takes a special gift, dedication and an ability that can only be acquired in many years of specialist training. The Deruta artist who has taken up the challenge to paint the first two Collections is Walter Pituello (1965 -). We believe that history will recognize master Pituello as one of the outstanding ceramic artists of the XXI Century.
As often happens to men of ability Pituello, a very independent person, had to struggle to make himself known. A self-taught student, he initiated his artistic career as a pavement painter in the streets of the main cities of Umbria, Italy. He was spotted by MOD Autori and invited to paint on ceramics. It has taken him about ten years of dedication, whilst producing dozens of ceramic pieces - very few of which can still be admired in MOD's shop -, to reach the heights that are necessary to work on complex "enveloping" surfaces. Master Pituello and MOD Autori begin, with these collections, a new movement in ceramic’s art and one that is likely to reshape the making and painting of ceramics the world over. Other artists will be trained to follow in Pituello's tracks using MOD Autori's "enveloping art" ceramics techniques(*3); but as is often the case in all walks of life, future comparisons will be made with the forerunner of it all. Study each lamp and the original painting carefully and imagine the ability of the ceramist to transpose an image from a flat panel surface onto a three-dimensional, round and, overall, irregular shape. Imagine the pains to define proportions whilst maintaining the style, fullness and meaning of the original painting remembering that each painting has its own height and length. Then imagine the skill required to link the ends of the flat surface into a uniform, fluid and harmonious view across the round surface and the painful care needed to reproduce colours faithfully, keeping in mind that pigments often fade and change during the final ceramics firing process. A mistake at this stage, either by the artist or by the manufacturer, means the loss of a masterpiece that has taken weeks of painful care and attention to produce. The combination of the artistic and manufacturing abilities required to produce each of these lamps makes them treasured works of art, as is already recognized by scholars and experts alike.
(*1) Each of the Bruegels' table lamp has a height of 46 cm (18.11 inches), a maximum diameter of 32 cm (12.60 inches) and weights 6 kilos (13.23 pounds) on average. Each of the Canaletto's table lamps has a height of 47 cm (18.50 inch), a maximum diameter of 42 cm (16.54 inches) and weights 8 kilos (17.64 pounds) on average
(*2) The artist has used,
whenever possible, antique pigments that reproduce the original canvas as
faithfully as allowed by today's ceramic processes. He visited museums and was
allowed to study the paintings before he set down to work. His interpretation of
the colours
suits the luminescence of ceramics painting and is very faithful to the
original
colour used in the canvasses. The artist maintains the
proportions and views of the canvas but lamps will have slight differences from
each other; this is normal as each is hand made Back to Home Maioliche Originali Deruta (MOD) Autori Deruta (C) Maioliche Originali Deruta (MOD) Autori: Manufacturing Quality for the Discerning Collector and Art Investor |
