Lenci

LENCI (Turin, act. 1919-1940's).
"Young woman sitting on a bench". 1935.
Hand-painted porcelain.
Signed and dated on the back.
Measurements: 24 x 14 x 14 cm.

Porcelain sculptural group of the Turinese house Lenci. Painted by hand with bright colors and a characteristic aesthetic of the thirties, it has been represented a young woman wearing a red beret and Scandinavian appearance sitting on a bench with an open book left on the seat and a frog perched on the edge of the backrest.

Lenci was an Italian doll manufacturer based in Turin, founded in 1919. The company name is an acronym of the following Latin phrase: !Ludus est nobis constanter industria" (play is our constant work). The company was founded by Enrico Scavini, who in 1915 married Elena König. They both started out producing pressed felt dolls, but in the late 1920s they turned to artistic ceramics and porcelain, collaborating with the best artists in Milan. Lenci's collaborators included Luigi Chessa, Giovanni Grande, Otto Maraini, Felice Tosalli, Mario Sturani and Sandro Vacchetti, who was also the first artistic director. The company's dolls achieved great renown, being the most famous dolls in Italy during the 1920s and 1930s, a time convulsed by the fascist dictatorship. Moreover, the success became international in a short time, receiving awards at international exhibitions in Zurich, Rome, Paris and Milan. In the 1950s, the Lenci factory produced Disney figures such as Bambi, Thumper, Peter Pan, Dumbo and Pinocchio under license. Lenci ceramics are now highly prized collector's items.