An event at the St. Augustin Cultural Hub
shines a light on Aldo Castelli’s role in the new flowering
of ceramic art in Ascoli between 1920 and 1930
— by Simonetta Castelli —
The event’s flyer
A few months ago, while the staging of the exhibition “With Earth and with Fire” was underway and the related catalog was about to go to press, I met with Luisa Alleva at her house to peruse through materials found in the precious archives of the Matricardi family. In addition to sharing family ties, we also share a passion for the brilliant artistic heritage of Ascoli’s majolica art and an awareness of the important role that the historic Matricardi Manufactures and the SPADA society played in it. It was on this occasion that, with the splendid serendipity that often accompanies so many of the most exciting discoveries, we stumbled upon the first of a chain of exciting clues related to the origins of the artistic society called “S.P.A.D.A.”, to this day still very scarcely documented. The acronym itself has an uncertain origin; we could not find any conclusive information about it, but based on the trends of the time in comparable denominations of similar companies, I would venture that it stood for “Società Per le Arti Decorative Ascolane” (Society for the Decorative Arts of Ascoli).
Funded mainly by Giuseppe Bracciolani (who also made available the premises of one of his properties in Via del Lago) and by other bold and generous personalities from Ascoli who loved art, the “S.P.A.D.A.” turned out to be an ephemeral and unprofitable venture from an entrepreneurial point of view, but it left us objects of rare beauty, with bizarre and exquisite shapes and decorations, and obtained with very daring techniques that were undoubtedly rather avant-garde for the time.
Little is known about how the SPADA was born; besides its well-known artistic founders – Aldo Castelli and Umberto Bellotto – and the “Patron” Bracciolani, it is hinted that other emerging artists collaborated, at least occasionally and in its initial phases; but no proof has ever been found in the various official archives that might shed light on their identity. Now, for decades my family had kept a handwritten letter, composed of various sheets and addressed to “Dear Bracciolani,” in which Aldo was mentioned and specific and well-detailed advice was given, complete with explanatory vignettes, on techniques and materials to be used for the decoration of high-fire majolicas. Unfortunately, the last sheet and the signature were missing, and in my house we had been racking our brains for years making conjectures on who could possibly be the author of the letter, who even seemed to be a person actively involved and deeply involved in the creative processes of the nascent SPADA Manufacture.
As mentioned above, from a first hypothesis very casually thrown there, a whole series of discoveries unfolded – some purely accidental, others the result of a tenacious and passionate research undertaken with enthusiasm by Luisa and me, with equally tenacious and passionate contributions given remotely by my sister and my brother – that led us to confirm that the author of the letter was without a doubt the Roman ceramist and artist Renzo Cellini, whom Aldo had befriended during his years of artistic training in Rome; and from this discovery other deductions have come forth, supported by solid and clear evidence, which lead us to think that the Roman years had a much more significant impact on Aldo’s formation as a ceramist than it had been assumed up to now.
Aldo Castelli (lower left), holding a vase decorated with the familiar Faun motif;
Renzo Cellini (center, standing) is holding two vases with similar decorations
For other majolica works
by Aldo Castelli, click HERE
I must give credit to dear Stefano De Martis, a well-known Roman journalist and passionate lover of artistic ceramics, for having unwittingly set this chain of discoveries in motion. It was he who pointed out an error in the caption of a photo, published here on the site, in which Aldo was portrayed together with other artists (most likely at a ceramic art exhibition). Standing beside him is Renzo Cellini; and for some unfathomable reason (and this is where that serendipity I was talking about comes into play) that afternoon at Luisa’s house I ventured that maybe it could have been him – a few years older than Aldo and with already consolidated experience in the field of majolica – to write that letter full of expert advice. The clues multiplied, and as a final confirmation, Cellini’s family very kindly sent us a photo of one of his autographed letters, which was obviously written by the same hand!
In Rome, Aldo certainly had been a frequent visitor of kilns and studios in which Duilio Cambellotti and artists from his school had worked; evident signs of the artistic impact of the Roman school can be recognized in the decorative themes and chromatic choices that characterize many of his creations in the years to come. But after the death of his mentor Augusto Mussini, Aldo enters a profound crisis and leaves Rome to return to his hometown Ascoli, bringing all his fresh enthusiasm cultivated in the avant-garde artistic environments of the capital. Majolica seems to be one of his first passions – we know for certain that the very young Aldo, only twenty years old, was among the first three employees hired by the historic Matricardi Manufacture; and catalogs and price lists of the time testify that his creations were highly valued and appreciated, although sometimes labeled by critics as “too modern.”
It certainly is a rare thing that a very young artist like Aldo would be granted such esteem and respect; and that the love for art prompted the engineer Matricardi to include in his catalogs pieces that were undoubtedly considered a decisive break with tradition and rather adventurous for the current trends of those times. Aldo continued to work with the Matricardi Manufacture until its closure in 1930, but in the summer of 1924 he ventured into the collateral experiment – ephemeral yet memorable – of the SPADA artistic society, whose unmistakable logo, well known to collectors and enthusiasts of ceramic art, represents a stylized dagger, as inspired by the acronym – which means “sword” in Italian.
Amphora Vase with the characteristic curl motifs inspired by wrought iron designs
Umberto Bellotto was himself a daring and innovative artist, who in the past had boldly combined elements and techniques that were certainly unusual: his creations of blown glass and wrought iron are very well known.
We do not know how and when the spark of the collaboration between the two was first ignited, but the first historical hints of the existence of the SPADA are to be found in the catalogs of trade fairs of the time and in a couple of short blurbs published in local newspapers that wish a happy future to the new Society and its supporters (August 1924).
Many of the “structural” designs of the SPADA pieces (particularly vases, bottles and amphorae) are so bizarre and daring that they almost seem like an “Icarus’ flight” from a technical and practical point of view: and indeed, many creations did not survive the great fire precisely because of the fragility that characterized them. In fact, today those very rare pieces that have survived the furnaces, the economic crisis that inevitably sentenced the end of the SPADA around 1929, wars, earthquakes, and everything that can happen in a hundred years’ span, are avidly sought after and appreciated by collectors for their exquisite uniqueness, for the extraordinary quality and luster of their enamels, and for the fantasy and elegance of their decorations.
The event from October 12 integrates the initiative of the beautiful exhibition “With Earth and with Fire” which, in addition to giving space and exposure to contemporary Ascolan ceramists, gave us the opportunity to enjoy a brief but excellent historical overview on the evolution of Artistic Ceramics in Ascoli during the very fruitful period between the 1920s and 1930s. The presentations by Luisa Alleva and Stefano De Martis were very interesting and stimulating, accompanied by a visual presentation to which I collaborated with photos and editing. I strongly recommend reading the relevant chapter “La maiolica in Ascoli Piceno tra il 1921 e il 1977” (Majolica Art in Ascoli Piceno between 1921 and 1977), written by Luisa Alleva, in the very rich and well-detailed catalog of the exhibition; and the review of the catalog itself, “Influenze romane nella ceramica ascolana del ’900” (Roman influences in the Ascoli ceramics of the 1900s) published by Stefano De Martis in Ceramica e arti decorative del Novecento, n. V di Gennaio 2020 (Ceramics and decorative arts of the twentieth century, n. V of January 2020).