In Este, the production of various types of ceramics has been present since the early days of its foundation. At the dawn of civilization, when the original characteristics of what would become Veneto were beginning to take shape, Este had developed a production that would accompany it uninterrupted for centuries. The National Archaeological Museum of Este, located in the 16th-century Mocenigo Palace, along the pre-existing walls of the Carraresi castle, preserves terracotta artifacts dating back to 4000 BC alongside significant traces of production during the medieval and Renaissance periods, presumably intended mainly for the local population.
The raw material is not far away, nor is the wood to fuel the kiln fires. Water is also plentiful. This combination of favorable conditions, coupled with the use of waterways for transport, opens up a wider market for production. Thanks to its canal, Este is integrated into the dense communication network that allows the Veneto hinterland to exchange goods and raw materials with a vast area, but especially with the lagoon.
The Franchini manufacturing, built in the 1700s near the Girometta Bridge, is essentially a family story as well as a story of passion for ceramics. Girolamo Franchini, a respected goldsmith and engraver, ventured into the production of fine earthenware for England, as he himself specified in 1784, in ivory color, which could be immediately coated with transparent glaze; it was very fashionable in Italy between 1770 and 1775.
In 1955, it was passion that drove Giovanni Battista Giorgini to acquire the ancient ceramics factory in the historic center of Este, near the 18th-century theater and the Cathedral, supported by the city walls and overlooking the canal that led to Venice. It is not hard to imagine how this Florentine aristocrat, a refined aesthete, could have been struck by the charm of the place, as well as the creative possibilities that opened up on his horizon. An enthusiastic lover of the beauties of his city and country, he launched Italian high fashion worldwide by promoting and organizing the first fashion shows in Florence in 1951, first in his palace in the Torrigiani garden and then at Palazzo Pitti. He restored the 18th-century building and, at a time when the future seemed to be that of industrial ceramics, actively worked to preserve in production and processing the style of the great ones who preceded him. He knows he is the heir of a great tradition, and in that path, he also intends to innovate. Thus, the collaboration with fashion and design is born, which continues to this day. He immediately understands the value of the ancient molds he finds, quite by chance, in the factory's warehouses. It is clear that this capital, derived from a series of vicissitudes of the Girometta factory, is closely linked to the history of Este ceramics over a multi-century period. With those molds, and his artisan employees involved in the charm of this adventure, he spends long hours between tests and samples, in a continuous and constant preservation and search for beauty. In 1960, he promotes the first experiments to create a white porcelain with which to execute the models of Girolamo Franchini. At the same time, he collaborates with young designers. His activity has re-proposed Este production on an international scale. The qualitative leap has been made, or rather, a happy recovery of style and production in keeping with the oldest and most prestigious Este traditions has been achieved.
G.B. Giorgini's intuition, truly ahead of its time, was the fact that preserved the cultural capital of the Girometta factory, laying the groundwork for its projection into the future. Indeed, we must speak of intuition because nothing in those years suggested the current evolution of the sector and more generally of Italian and European manufacturing. He will manage the company for fifteen years until his passing, bringing it back to life. Ceramics in the 1950s was still a solid economic sector, with ample development potential stemming from a historically unprecedented significant increase in consumption. In 1975, his nephew, Giovanni Battista Fadigati, took over the presidency of the company, immediately choosing to continue production in the direction traced by his grandfather. He develops the ancient craftsmanship in the most coordinated and homogeneous way with the innovations leading toward industrial production, always paying attention to the materials and colors used in respect of quality. During the enlargement and renovation works of the premises, he will discover other molds and continues to increase the capital of creation by collaborating with artists and designers and with the fashion world without forgetting anything of the origins. In 1979, a large exhibition “Este Ceramics and the Art of Ceramics from the 18th Century” reminds the city, and not only, of its main vocation. Este Ceramics and Porcelains continues to propose its ancient and modern creations. It continues to privilege, with a style from an ancient workshop of great charm, the direct relationship with the customer who spends a rare moment here, immersed in the beauty of ancient and simultaneously brand-new objects, with the equally rare certainty of being able to at least partially appropriate them.
