Lot 665: w - ALESSANDRO MAZZUCOTELLI A MONUMENTAL ITALIAN CAST-IRON JARDINIÈRE

104cm., 3ft. 5in. high by 175cm., 5ft. 9in. long by 52cm., 1ft. 8½in. wide

cast and wrought iron on a marble and stained wood base

NOTE

Alessandro Mazzucotelli (1865 - 1938) is best known for his work in wrought iron. Being born into a wealthy family of blacksmiths who founded their wealth on the need for iron during the wars of the 18^th and 19^th centuries his fortune suddenly changed when the company fell into disrepair. Allessandro, only eighteen years old, had to go to the city and work in an iron factory, the Defendente Oriani in Milan, in order to finance his studies. Six years later in 1891 he left the company and started to focus on his own work. Most of his designs were decorative features for buildings and his oeuvre took him from Italy to Germany and even to Thailand, where he provided ironwork for the buildings of the architect Annibale Rigotti in Bangkok.

His style was initially coined by the Stile Liberty, which he explored during his travels through Europe with Eugenio Quarti (see Turin 1902 chapter). He took inspiration from the wealth of ideas of the artist's in England, such as Burne Jones, William Morris and Walter Crane and the French movement with Gallé at the forefront. He transferred their ideas into his medium, turning a coarse heavy material into an elegant, seemingly weightless structure.

Mazzucotelli made his name at the International Exhibitions starting in Turin in 1902, Brussels in 1910, Paris 1925 and many others. He also became a regular lecturer at the crafts school of the Società Umanitaria, which was to be the school of many leading artists such as Eugenio Quarti. And his mark is still visible today particularly in Milan, such as in the balustrades and handrails of the Palazzo della Borsa (1907), today's post office, or the lamps in the Piazza del Duomo (1927-28).