Giulia Mangani Firenze for Oggetti Italian Porcelain Dolphin Table Sculpture. Title: "Delfino." One of their more stunning and beloved stylized decorative pieces, with exquisitely detailed purple scales and giltwork throughout. In a dynamic pose atop a stand. Makers marks on the underside of right fin. Label on bottom of base that reads "Made in Italy." 

Size: 15 x 9 1/2 x 17 1/2 in. 

At the beginning of the 20th Century the Mangani family of sculptors were already known for generations of work for others, and patriarch Cesarino decided to open his own atelier in Florence with his five children, filling commissions from English, French, and American patrons who owned villas in the surrounding hills. In 1930, after the economic collapse that swept the world, the atelier closed, but one of his sons, Alfiero, soon found work as a ceramist-sculptor at the Zaccagnini porcelain factory, where he continued to produce his father’s designs as well as his own. In 1955 he left to open his own workshop in the working class district of San Frediano, assisted by his two sons, Ivan and Lando. By 1960 the company was doing so well they were able to hire more workers and expand into a larger facility, as well as gaining a new partner, the interior designer Piero Borghesi. When Alfiero passed away at the end of that year, Borghesi assisted Ivan and Lando in shifting the focus of the company from simple sculpture into functional ware, garden decorations, wall art, and much more. This eventually brought them to the attention of Tiffany & Co., who collaborated with them on many pieces for the next thirty years and allowed them to triple in size and produce innovative new lines and collections. Today, the factory known as Nostro Zio Furno Mangani is famous both for its commercial success and for the restoration efforts they have spearheaded for countless churches throughout the country. The heirs of the company’s assets are Lando’s children, Giulia and Lorenzo Mangani, who with the new Giulia Mangani Firenze brand carry on the historic tradition of exquisite porcelain manufacturing in Italy.