This vintage Bitossi Pigeon by Stig Lindberg SOLD through iNVISeDGE for AU$379 back in 2013. Today in 2020 I’d certainly price the exact same piece at more (probably around $500-$550). This is a very rare design. NOTE- our prices are in AUSTRALIAN DOLLARS (AU$379 is SIGNIFICANTLY less in American dollars).
Background Info and Provenance
A vintage Bitossi pigeon that was made in Italy in the mid-1950’s. This is a two-part piece comprising of a bowl and lid on top. When I first got this piece I thought it was done by Stig Lindberg during his retirement in Italy in the early 1980’s. This is not the case. The Raymor label underneath has the code BIT which was used for Bitossi pieces, the B in the design number also stands for Bitossi. So the piece is Bitossi- mid-1950’s. According to Mark Hill in his book, “Alla Moda- Italian Ceramics of the 1950’s-70’s, ‘This range was produced until 1957 and is scarce today.’ Subsequently Hill values the pieces in this range at US$500 – US$850. This value is for a vase or a single bowl- this two-part bowl would be valued at more. This style was part of the Piume Multicolore’ (Multicoloured Feathers range) designed by Aldo Londi in 1955. The patterning, which is carnival-like but strangely subdued at the same time, is very similar to patterns used by Swedish designer, Stig Lindberg- so too is the refined form and curves. It is believed that Londi saw Lindberg’s designs when he visited Sweden, probably at a trade fair. This is a guess only- I have not been able to conclusively place this design as Lindberg’s- maybe Bitossi was inspired by Lindberg and created in his own series in the style of Lindberg. Whichever way, this is a rare piece of vintage art by a highly-celebrated pottery firm and is well marked and labeled to verify its heritage.
Much of today’s home décor ends up as landfill within a decade of being “made”, creating pollution and wasting our earth’s resources in the process. It’s refreshing to come across a HAND-MADE piece that has stood the test of time for about 60 years and is just as valued today as it ever was (probably moreso). There are very few better ways to invest in your home and our environment.
2003
This pigeon is in excellent condition considering her age and travels. There are NO repairs, NO chips. There are a couple of very small production flaws on the underside of the white bowl. When the bowl is on display these are not noticed. I believe these are air bubbles in the glaze (or small sections where the glaze hasn’t taken)- someone has later colour-corrected these with white paint or something. They would have been noticed more when the red clay underneath came through. These minor flaws are on the underside so never noticeable. (See the photos.) The piece is hand-made so it may not be "perfect". In my opinion this is the beauty of owning vintage hand-made pieces. There is a little wear under the lid from putting it on and off over the years. This piece has a height of 17cm and measures about 40cm in length. (by 12cm). Read my 950+ ebay feedback comments (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 I will not stock items unless they are in excellent condition.
PICK-UP . . . from 30 or 40 minutes North of BRISBANE city is accepted but postage is preferred as my home is hard to find. Because of this I will nominate a friend or family member for you to collect the item from if you need collection. 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 about 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 15 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 15 years of trading we have over 1150 positive ebay feedback comments and ZERO negative feedback comments.) ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On occasions a DIRECT BANK DEPOSIT can be made at the time of collection. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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