Vezzi porcelain

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Vezzi porcelain was made by the Vezzi porcelain factory in Venice, Italy, started in 1720 by the Vezzi family. It was Italy’s first porcelain factory after the imitation Medici experiments of the 16th century. It operated only until 1727, and surviving pieces are very rare—likely fewer than 200. It produced true hard-paste porcelain, and was only the third factory in Europe to do so, hiring specialists from Meissen and Vienna, the first two porcelain makers.

Most of the wares were teaware: cups, saucers, teapots and a few small plates. Many cups are beakers without handles, and the teapots, which make up a large portion of the survivors, often have moulded shapes with relief decoration. The bodies could be white or grey and were very translucent. Shapes often drew from silverware, but the painting was bright and varied, influenced by northern factories and Asian export wares.

Francesco Vezzi (1651–1740) was a goldsmith who became a keen businessman and had visited the Vienna factory. He bought a Venetian noble title, financed the factory, and ran it with his son Giovanni (born 1687). They made Christoph Conrad Hunger a partner in 1721; Hunger had worked in Vienna and visited Meissen, apparently learning some secrets. He left Venice in 1724 and returned to Meissen in 1727. This seems to have halted the supply of the crucial kaolin clay from Saxony, and no more porcelain was made in Venice between 1727 and 1758. Only the Cozzi porcelain factory later found lasting success in Venice (1764–1812).

The Vezzi factory was unique in Europe for operating purely on a commercial basis; most other factories were owned by rulers or supported by the state. Later, English factories like Chelsea and Bow would also run independently. Giovanni Vezzi may have faced opposition from his father, perhaps because his noble peers in Venice felt that owning a smoky manufacturing business was inappropriate. In 1727, an agreement between father and son canceled Giovanni’s debts but required him to destroy the kilns.