$319.00

All iNVISeDGE prices are in AUSTRALIAN dollars (AUD $319) is significantly less in American dollars. (About US$205.) This piece is in BRISBANE (Australia) but can be posted internationally for the cost of postage plus $3 – $4 for packing and the storage of used packing materials. We regularly pick up clean packing materials from an electrical store before it ends up as landfill. Contact us if have any Bitossi animals you want to sell. Our commission fee is 7% to 18.5% when your item sells to use iNVISeDGE as a selling platform (18.5% for private sellers. 7% for selected dealers only who need a selling platform only and very little of our time).

 

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Description

We sold a vintage Bitossi elephant like this in iNVISeDGE within 10 days of being listed in 2014 for $179. In 2019, these Bitossi elephants were valued at around $229. Since COVID-19, VINTAGE Bitossi pottery made gains of about 50% (about the same as our real estate market). These are collectables and have increased in value ever since they were first released on the market back in the late-1950’s. This VINTAGE piece is priced at $319 AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS (which is about USD $205). We sold a VINTAGE Bitossi bull back in 2013 for AUD $319. Last year in 2021, we sold a Bitossi bull for AUD $770 in the first 10 minutes it was listed. This verifies without any doubt that VINTAGE Bitossi pottery is an astute investment that has increased in value over time.

Background Info and Provenance

(Written in 2022)

A VINTAGE Bitossi elephant designed in Italy in the late 1950’s or early 60’s. This is a genuine VINTAGE piece made by hand. There have been recent re-issues of Bitossi pottery pieces but they are nothing like the vintage originals. The new ones are plaster poured into a mould (they look mass-produced and are). They don’t have the hand-made quality of the vintage pieces. The re-issues have found their way into Australia and there are ebay sellers labelling them as “authentic” and “retro”. All the re-issues of each animal look exactly the same- all the patterns and decoration are identical for each shape. In my eyes they can’t possibly be “authentic”. Bitossi pieces captured the attention of the world because of the HAND-MADE craftsmanship and individualistic quality. The re-issues are not made by hand and they are certainly not “retro” either (they are still only about 10 years old!). They are modern re-issues (copies) of the vintage originals (made using modern mass-production techniques).

THIS IS AN ORIGINAL VINTAGE BITOSSI PIECE- 100% GUARANTEED HAND-MADE & VINTAGE. Look closely at the pictures and you will see its hand-made quality. Besides, this one has the FLAVIA Montelupo ITALY impression on the belly which gives irrefutable evidence that it’s vintage.  This particular shape is not easy to get- it’s the second elephant I’ve had in 21 years of trading. And the trunk-up is for luck and good fortune. Elephants are the largest land animals living on the planet today, their energy feels invariably kind and very wise- this will be a nice addition to any home.

The date of this piece is late-1970’s to the early-1980’s. The famous Bitossi factory in Italy started marking all their decorative arts pieces with a FLAVIA impression (like this) from 1976 onwards. In the mid-1980’s when mass-produced Chinese décor items flooded worldwide markets, production of decorative arts items at the Bitossi factory slowed. At this time, the output of items in this colourway (the famous “Rimini Blu” colours) reduced dramatically. By the 1990’s the Bitossi factory was producing a lot of other looks and styles. From the 1980’s, Giovanni Masone took over as artistic director and invited various Memphis group artists to collaborate with FLAVIA including Piero Fornasetti. Bitossi / FLAVIA items in the 1990’s were largely in different styles and the production of animals (particularly like this elephant) virtually stopped (many earlier animals that remained popular for 30-odd years stopped altogether in the 1990’s).

In the early 2000’s, there was a re-discovery of vintage Bitossi (particularly in Australia) and by 2007 the re-issues flowed into Australia (mainly via ebay). These pieces were not met by the buying public in Australia (and around the world) with much enthusiasm. They lacked the magic and imagination of vintage Bitossi and sellers of the re-issues quickly gave up- the re-issues disappeared from the Australian market only after a matter of years. They’re still floating around and changing hands but they have very little collector appeal. (In saying this though, a few shapes that were picked up as re-issues are very rare. They were rare as vintage originals and interestingly these shapes were also produced in smaller runs as modern re-issues. Whether this is a coincidence or intentionally done, I don’t know.) A couple of the rarer re-issued animals have increased in value after production stopped.

Ceramics manufacturer, Montelupo was founded in 1921 by Guido Bitossi and produced traditional terracotta wares up until the Second World War. Incredibly the Montelupo factory was miraculously spared during WWII. Production continued during these turbulent years, despite the destruction inflicted on the other local businesses and factories by Allied bombs. In order to continue operation at this time, Bitossi was forced to begin producing their own ceramic glazes, frits and colours and soon began supplying the entire region (including neighbouring countries) with Bitossi-made glazes and frits. From 1946-1976 under the artistic direction of Aldo Londi, the factory collaborated with a number of outside artists, including Ettore Sottsass (from the late-1950s into the 1960’s). The arm of the business that produced decorative arts pieces took the name ‘Ceramiche Flavia’ at the beginning of 1976. In 1999, the impression changed, the FLAVIA name was lost in the impression and the word Bitossi appeared pretty-much for the first time. (Many VINTAGE Bitossi pieces never had the word Bitossi painted on them or impressed into the clay.) This FLAVIA impression gives this piece extra collector appeal.

Designed by Aldo Londi and created by the world-famous Italian firm Bitossi, these animals captured the attention of the world. To my knowledge, Bitossi pieces were never retailed in Australia back in the 1960’s- they’re incredibly rare here and much-loved by Australian collectors. Vintage Bitossi pottery pieces in Australia are about 40 times rarer than America.

The real beauty of owning vintage Bitossi pottery is knowing your piece won’t be in vogue for a season or even a couple of years before ending up as landfill. The hand-made quality of these pieces draws people in- the heart and soul found in these pieces will continue to charm people regardless of their age, background and the era. This piece has survived 40 years+ already (written 2022) and is more popular than ever. There are very few better ways to invest in your home and reduce your carbon footprint.

2211

This Bitossi elephant is in excellent condition considering his age and travels. There are NO cracks, NO repairs, NO chips, NO damage at all. This Bitossi piece has a few very minor signs of use to be expected of any vintage Bitossi piece but nothing that's of any consequence- he’s been very well looked after. He has a width of about 16cm and he measures about 10cm in height. Weight- 455 - 620 grams. (Weights vary because they are HAND-MADE.) The elephant is a good size. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Read our 1200+ ebay feedback comments (ALL positive and ALL for vintage furniture/decorative art SALES- 100 or so are from repeat customers). This is your guarantee that I strive to describe all my items as accurately as I can and that I will not stock items unless they are in excellent condition.
PICK-UP . . . from BRISBANE near Bowen Hills is accepted. Pick-up in person must be worked out prior to purchase- thank you. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POSTAGE is offered internationally. All our Decorative Arts pieces are delivered through AUSTRALIA POST. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ POSTAGE ESTIMATES. . . . ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ To BRISBANE- most of our pieces cost $15 - $18 to send. . . To SYDNEY or MELBOURNE- Small Vase- around $20 - $23, Medium Vase- around $20 - $25, Large Vase- around $24 - $30. Let us know if you need an EXACT COST for postage prior to purchase. The above postage estimates include $2.95 for a signature on delivery. . . INSURANCE against being lost or broken in transit up to the value of $200 is included in the estimates above. If your vase is cheaper or more expensive than $200 this will effect your postage fee slightly. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A BOXING FEE of $3.00 is included in the fee above to cover the cost of searching for and storing used packing materials. With the millions of cardboard boxes that end up as landfill every year we don’t believe in supporting the manufacture of boxes for post. Instead of buying new boxes and packing materials and passing this cost onto our customers we spend considerable time sourcing used boxes and then fashioning boxes to fit each item. We do the same for bubble-wrap and foam pieces. This requires a large investment of time, energy, ingenuity, organization and storage space- it is much easier and cheaper to buy new packing materials but I can’t justify taking the easy way out when so much packing material ends up polluting our earth. Our $3.00 charge does little to pay for the time (and storage) needed do this and to pack your item (there is also the time needed to get your package to the post office). This is something we’re happy to do for our customers and the environment. We appreciate your support in this area.
We accept DIRECT BANK DEPOSIT. We send photographic ID of the store owner (Michael Grealy) to all customers at the point of sale, along with media articles about iNVISeDGE with photos of Michael Grealy in them (most of these articles are over 10 years old). Your payment will be paid into an Australian ANZ bank account under the name Michael Grealy (or iNVISeDGE). Please read our ebay feedback spanning more than 20 years for irrefutable proof of our online trading history and reputation. Ebay feedback can ONLY be left by LEGITIMATE PAYING customers! Additionally please be aware that in Australia ALL consumers are protected BY LAW if the goods or services they buy are not as described. (But this should be of no concern- in our first 20 years of trading we have over 1200 positive ebay feedback comments and ZERO negative feedback comments.) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ On occasions a DIRECT BANK DEPOSIT can be made at the time of collection. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ On occasions CASH payment when you collect your item may also be available. Confirm prior to purchase if you need this. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Other payment methods are available but problematic and may incur additional fees. Tell us prior to purchase if you are unable to feel 100% confident with our trading history and payment methods so we can negotiate something else with you.
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