Breda: a steelworks drawn at the moment of the pour
No product, no slogan, no machine: an advertising sheet for Breda that shows only the inside of a foundry at the moment of the pour, with a single small figure standing in it.
Interwar Italy 1922–44
Works, objects and printed matter from Italy between 1922 and 1944, documented from private archives.
Turin Wartime Tankette Advertising Sheet
A photomontage for MAS of Turin, makers of lifting gear: an electric hoist holding a turretless tracked vehicle in mid-air, with the Mole Antonelliana rising behind. The address and telephone number are printed on the sheet.
Aeronautica Sicula Palermo Flying Boats Sheet
A flying boat over the Palermo seaplane base, with Monte Pellegrino behind it. The company that built it, Aeronautica Sicula, began as the Ducrot furniture works — the firm that made Ernesto Basile’s Art Nouveau interiors.
ALBA Rumianca Toothpaste & Chemicals Sheet
Two lilies out of the dark and a tube of toothpaste: an advertising sheet for ALBA, a household product of Rumianca, the chemical company whose main business was caustic soda, chlorine and sulphuric acid.
Reggiane Re.2001: a fighter advertised from the inside
An advertising sheet for the Officine Meccaniche Reggiane shows the Re.2001 with its skin taken off: the guns, the tanks, the frames all visible through the fuselage. A monogram in the corner, and no author we could confirm.
Carlo Zucchi, Leopoldo Gori and UnoAerre in Arezzo, 1926
Founded on 15 March 1926 in Arezzo, Unoaerre was assigned the first official goldsmith hallmark of the province—1AR—transforming an ancient Etruscan gold tradition into Europe’s greatest continuous jewellery manufacture.
Adele and Edoardo Fendi in Rome, 1925
In 1925, Adele Casagrande and Edoardo Fendi opened a boutique and leather workshop in central Rome, bringing traditional Roman saddlery discipline into the avant-garde world of international fashion.
Pietro Loro Piana and Noble Wool in Quarona, 1924
On 24 April 1924, Pietro Loro Piana registered his new wool mill in Quarona, harnessing the mineral-pure mountain torrents of the Valsesia to spin cashmere and superfine wool into timeless luxury.
Mario Colombo and Alpine Sportswear of Colmar, 1923
Founded in Monza in 1923 as a wool-felt workshop, Manifattura Mario Colombo transformed the city’s traditional hatmaking craft into high-performance skiwear that dressed Italy’s alpine champions.