Like a Fellini movie, the ceramics of the famed Italian company Bitossi Ceramiche embody a creative spectrum that ranges from the playful and earthy to the high-minded and provocative. Based in Florence, Bitossi draws on craft traditions that date back to the 1500s. These find expression in Bitossi pottery that includes artisanal vintage vases and animal figures by the firm’s longtime art director Aldo Londi, as well as the colorful, totemic vessels designed by the high priest of postmodernism, Ettore Sottsass.
Bitossi was incorporated by Guido Bitossi in 1921, though the family began making art pottery in the mid-19th century. In the 1930s, Londi came aboard, bringing with him a mindset that respected time-honored craft, yet looked also to the future. On the one hand, Londi’s perspective fostered the making of Bitossi’s popular whimsical cats, owls, horses and other animal figures, hand-shaped and -carved and finished in a rich azure glaze known as “Rimini Blue.”
But with his other hand, Londi reached out to thoughtful, experimental designers such as Sottsass. After hiring Sottsass to design ceramics for his New York imports company, Raymor, American entrepreneur Irving Richards connected the Milanese design polymath to Londi, who introduced Sottsass to ceramics in the 1950s.
During that decade, some 20 years before he founded the Memphis postmodern design collective in Milan, Sottsass used the Bitossi kilns to create timeless works that manifest both primitive forms and modern geometries. In later decades, Bitossi would welcome new generations of designers, which have included such names as Ginevra Bocini and Karim Rashid.
While always looking forward, Bitossi is firm in their belief that mastery of craft is the first step towards beautiful design. As you will see from the works offered on these pages, that is a winning philosophy.
Find a collection of vintage Bitossi decorative objects, lighting and serveware on 1stDibs.
$595
H 13.75 in W 7.25 in D 6 in
Blue Glazed Ceramic Buddha Head Sculpture In the Manner of Aldo Londi Bitossi
Located in Studio City, CA
A beautifully and sumptuously blue drip glazed serene Buddha head ceramic/pottery sculpture very much in a similar manner of the Italian made Chinese Kwan Yin bust...
Earthenware, Pottery
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Kwan Yin Buddha Rimini Blu, Italy, 1970s
By Bitossi, Aldo Londi
Located in Morazzone, Varese
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Kwan Yin Buddha Rimini Blu, Italy, 1970s Gorgeous female Buddha made of shiny glazed ceramic pottery in a vibrant Rimini blue color. According to one legend, ...
Ceramic, Pottery
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Mid Century Blue Buddha Bust
By Bitossi, Aldo Londi
Located in Franklin Park, IL
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Mid Century Blue Buddha Bust This bust measures: 5.5 wide x 6.75 deep x 11.25 inches high This price includes getting this piece/set in what we call Restored...
Ceramic
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Kwan Yin Buddha Rimini Blu, Italy, 1970s
By Bitossi, Aldo Londi
Located in Morazzone, Varese
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Kwan Yin Buddha Rimini Blu, Italy, 1970s Gorgeous female Buddha made of shiny glazed ceramic pottery in a vibrant Rimini blue color. According to one legend, ...
Ceramic, Pottery
$590
H 7.88 in W 2.17 in D 2.17 in
Vintage Chinese Ceramic Bust of Guanyin Kwan Yin Buddha On Wood Stand mid-20c
Located in Richmond, CA
This Chinese ceramic bust of Kwan Yin (Guanyin), the revered bodhisattva of compassion in Buddhist tradition, is a beautifully crafted representation of spiritual serenity and grace....
Ceramic
$600Sale Price|29% Off
H 10.24 in W 6.3 in D 6.3 in
Contemporary buddha head sculpture - painted in turquoise car paint
By Tal Nehoray
Located in New York, NY
This beautiful Buddha sculpture is made of ceramic covered with glossy car paint. It is part of an edition of 25 and comes in other colors as well. Easy to h...
Ceramic, Automotive Paint
$600Sale Price|29% Off
H 10.24 in W 6.3 in D 6.3 in
Contemporary buddha head sculpture - blue car paint
By Tal Nehoray
Located in New York, NY
This beautiful Buddha sculpture is made of ceramic covered with glossy car paint. It is part of an edition of 25 and comes in other colors as well. Easy to h...
Ceramic, Automotive Paint
$1,268
H 28.35 in W 22.05 in D 14.57 in
Buddha figure in carved wood with light and blue-toned patina from Thailand 1920
Located in Lejre, DK
Decorative Buddha figure carved in wood with light tones and blue accents. Originating from Thailand and dating to the 1920s, the sculpture reflects the rich tradition of Thai Buddhi...
Wood
Mid 20th Century Vintage Boho Glazed Ceramic Bust
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Enhance your space with the artistic elegance of this vintage boho glazed ceramic bust. Featuring a beautifully crafted design with a glossy finish, this bust exudes both sophisticat...
Ceramic
$6,900
H 18.25 in W 11.25 in D 11.25 in
Tibetan Bronze Buddha Bust, Vintage 20th Century Sculpture with Patina
Located in Queens, NY
Vintage Tibetan bronze figural bust of the Buddha with a natural green patina, resting on an oval polished brass plinth.
Metal, Brass, Bronze
Aldo Londi Bitossi Kwan Yin, Ceramic, Blue Buddha Bust
By Aldo Londi, Bitossi
Located in New York, NY
Aldo Londi Bitossi Kwan Yin, Ceramic, Buddha Bust, Blue. Beautiful and calming female Buddha glazed in a vibrant dark blue. It is believed that to have a picture or statue of Kwan Yi...
Ceramic
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Kwan Yin (Guanyin) Head Sculpture, Cyan Turquoise Glazed
By Bitossi, Aldo Londi
Located in New York, NY
Serene Kwan Yin (Guanyin) head by Aldo Londi for Bitossi, Italy, 1960s. It has an ornate topknot and closed, meditative eyes, and the saturated cyan glaze pools darker in the carved ...
Ceramic
Aldo Londi Bitossi Kwan Yin Buddha, Ceramic, Cinese Blue
By Bitossi, Aldo Londi
Located in New York, NY
Beautiful and calming female Buddha — Goddess of Mercy and Compassion — glazed in Bitossi's Cinese (Chinese) finish — a muted, textured lava glaze in soft turquoise blue. Londi's att...
Ceramic
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Kwan Yin Buddha, Coin Bank, Ceramic, Italy, 1960s
By Aldo Londi, Bitossi
Located in New York, NY
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Kwan Yin Buddha, Coin Bank, Ceramic, Italy, 1960s. A beautiful and calming female Buddha glazed in a royal blue, with a hint of...
Ceramic
Aldo Londi Bitossi Buddha Head Sculpture, Cinese Blue Gold Ceramic, Italy 1960s
By Aldo Londi, Bitossi
Located in New York, NY
Aldo Londi Bitossi Buddha Head Sculpture, Cinese Blue Gold Ceramic, Italy 1960s. Mid-century modern ceramic Buddha head by Aldo Londi for Bitossi, Italy, circa 1960s. From Londi's Ci...
Ceramic
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Kwan Yin Buddha, Ceramic, White Cinese, Italy, 1960s
By Aldo Londi, Bitossi
Located in New York, NY
Aldo Londi for Bitossi Kwan Yin Buddha, Ceramic, White Cinese, Italy, 1960s. Kwan Yin Buddha sculpture finished in a textured white "Cinese" glaze - w...
Ceramic
