Rometti 100 - by Nicoletta Giannoni (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The volume celebrates the hundred-year history of Manifatture Rometti, one of the most innovative names in the European ceramics industry, through a journey between past and present. Text in English and Italian.

Ceramiche Rometti's centenary celebratory volume recounts a collective journey that began in 1927 in Umbertide, a small city in the Italian region of Umbria. The book opens with Nicoletta Giannoni's interview with Massimo Monini, director and driving force behind the company, and with artistic director Jean-Christophe Clair: a dialog that reveals the link between contemporary design and the brand's historical legacy. Linked to this fruitful dialog between yesterday and today is Lorenzo Fiorucci's essay: a well-documented exploration of a centuries-old artistic journey, from the 20th-century masterpieces of Corrado Cagli, Dante Baldelli and Leoncillo to a polyphonic present that includes the visionary style of Ambrogio Pozzi, Ugo La Pietra, Luca Baldelli and Jean-Christophe Clair, the elegance of Roberto Capucci and the audacity of Chantal Thomass and Sara Ricciardi. Form and color come together in the splendid photographs by Monica Spezia: a visual archive that celebrates excellence, the variety of the designs and also the prestigious commissions by Poltrona Frau, Borbonese and Roche Bobois. An iconic and narrative volume, with text in both Italian and English, that opens a window onto the future of a constantly evolving language.

Text in English and Italian.

About the Author

Nicoletta Giannoni was editor of the monthly magazine Orologi. Le Misure del Tempo (2000-2026). Having always been interested in the dialog between the applied arts and design, she curated the exhibitions Amabili Presenze (2012) and Una Storia Italiana (2014) for Ceramiche Rometti at the Casina delle Civette in Villa Torlonia, Rome. She coordinated the first two editions of the Rometti Prize (2013 and 2014) and is a member of the competition's jury. Lorenzo Fiorucci is an art historian at the Superintendency for Umbria. He has been curator of special projects at the Palazzo Collicola Museum in Spoleto (2019-2023) and director of the MACC in Torgiano until 2025; from 2024, he is in charge of the exhibition program at the Pinacoteca in Città di Castello. He specializes in post-war Italian art, with studies on Informal art, New Figuration and 20th-century ceramics, as well as carrying out critical work.