NATIONAL - Fornasetti Decorated Insulators
Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", September 2000, (Insert) page 17
Rick Soller, Gurnee, Illinois
According to Mauries' Fornasetti: Designer of Dreams, Piero Fornasetti made
paperweights with electrical insulators in 16 designs. The display contains six
of the known designs. Fornasetti used porcelain insulators (U-1668 and U-1714)
manufactured by Richard Ginori. Low temperature glazes and ceramic decals are
applied to insulators that have previously been fired at high temperatures.
Piero Fornasetti was born in 1913 and from the time he was twenty-two until his
death in 1988, he lived and worked in Milan applying his designs (gold trim and
decals) to a range of decorative objects.
CALENDARS are found on both the U-1668 (1957) and on a U-1714 (1964)
insulator styles. The insulators are trimmed in gold on the crown and side wire
grooves, but not the top wire groove. The crown decal reads "HAPPY" on
one side and the "YEAR" (in this case 1957 and 1964) on the other. The
1957 calendar decal has the days ordered in columns from top to bottom rather
than across in rows. Signs of the zodiac are also depicted. The 1964 calendar
decals has numbers running top to bottom rather than left to right and no signs
of the zodiac.
THE NATO ALPHABET is found on a U-1668. The side of the crown and
side wire groove are trimmed in gold. The crown decal reads "FOR YOUR
TELEPHONE MESSAGES" while the skirt decals lists the words used to
represent each letter of the alphabet as officially adopted by NATO. The crown
top is a compass with the letters N, A, T, O.
THE NEW [KEY} TO DREAMS. Using a U-1668, the top and side wire grooves are
trimmed in gold. The crown decal reads: "THE NEW [Picture of a Key] TO
DREAMS". Symbols such as money, lock, fish, tree, knife are shown on the
skirt decal with the interpretation of what each symbol means in a dream. This
style has been found in both English and Italian translations.
Many of the
Fornasetti pieces are marked with a decal inside the pinhole. It is a hand
holding a brush above the words: FORNASETTI-MILANO over MADE IN ITALY.
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| CLOCKS are depicted on a U-1714. The dome and side wire grooves are trimmed
in gold. Four different clocks decorate the skirt. |
FISHING gear, such as hooks, a lure, a bamboo rod, a wicker basket and a
spool of line are pictured on the skirt decal. The dome and side wire grooves of
this U-1714 are trimmed in gold. |
Rick says: I've collected the Fornasetti pieces since 1991 when I began
collecting commemorative insulators. When I learned of a collector on line from
Italy, I contacted him and worked out a trade for one with the Italian
translation. My favorite piece in the display is the 1957 calendar -- the year
of my birth.
I am currently looking for any marked New Lexington insulator,
since that is where I got started -- behind the house of my uncle, on the
railroad tracks. My grandparents and several cousins also lived in New Lexington
and I've walked over the factory spot.
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