Richard Ginori company goes bankrupt

FLORENCE, ITALY – A court in Florence has declared the Richard Ginori company bankrupt. The famous porcelain manufacturing company, headquartered in Sesto Fiorentino, started receivership proceedings last spring when balance sheets for 2011 emphasized losses greater than the company’s capital.

The Doccia porcelain manufactory, at Doccia, a frazione of Sesto Fiorentino, near Florence, was founded in 1735 by marchese Carlo Ginori near his villa. The manufacture remained in the hands of the Ginori family until 1896, when it was incorporated with the Società Ceramica Richard of Milan, a larger manufacturer of ceramics, as Richard-Ginori.

Gio Ponti served as artistic director of the manufacture from 1923 to 1930, producing many designs in the Art Deco manner, and was succeeded by Giovanni Gariboldi, 1930-1970.

Richard-Ginori maintains the Museo di Doccia in Sesto Fiorentino, which moved in 1965 from its original location, in the eighteenth-century factory building, to a new structure purposely designed to house the collection.