Between tradition and modernity: the Rosenthal Heritage Collection

Italian designer Gianni Cinti translates the history and traditions of Rosenthal into the here and now. The Rosenthal Heritage collection is an eclectic interplay of shapes, colours and patterns from different eras and cultures, interwoven with personal memories.

"In the 140-year history of Rosenthal, various forms of visual expression overlap," says Gianni Cinti, who was surprised by the treasures he discovered in the Rosenthal Archive in Selb. The designer worked with porcelain for the first time and is fascinated by the material. Because it is modern, versatile and one of the oldest materials of all. While the décors Midas, Turandot and Dynasty differ strikingly from each other, a visual bracket made of gold tones holds the collection together. All three designs include Cinti's extremely imaginative handwriting and the abstracted borrowings from Rosenthal's history. He sees the decors as "new classics" passed down from generation to generation.

Each of the three décor themes is understood as a holistic concept and complemented by matching drinking glass series and linen napkins from Rosenthal as well as accessories from Sambonet.

All gold that shines: Midas

For his collection „Midas“ the Italian designer took reference from the Greek mythology of King Midas, who was given by Dionysos the power to turn everything he touched into gold. A very contemporary story that can be seen as an analogy to today´s materialistic world. On the classic baroque shape of Sanssouci, Gianni Cinti created a pattern that plays with different gradients of gold: just traces of gold, hint or full golden - like fingertips - on the plates and cups.

The pattern has a handcrafted character that is explicitly imperfect in its perfection of handpainted golden lines at the handles of the sugar bowl or the coffee- and teapot. Each item is individually decorated repeating the motif of the golden leaves and branches. Gianni Cinti used the so-called “Camouflage” effect by using a tone-on-tone pattern with mat white leaves underlying the golden ones. In this way, the décor “Midas” appears to be three-dimensional – an effect that can be discovered by looking at the object from different angles.

Family legacy: Dynasty

The collection “Dynasty” is based on history and imagination. The surrealistic, rich pattern tells the story of any family business from Renaissance to Contemporary in all parts of Europe by using a lot of symbols as the cornucopia, the tree of life and birds in a new language between Art Nouveau and Persian miniatures as well as the open books and the old-fashioned portraits inspired from Italian silhouette „cameo“.

In these motifs, Gianni Cinti revisits and reinterprets a series of elements that typify his personal and artistic path: his connections to places where he lived and to experiences from his personal life and professional experiences - the rigorous composition of Gianfranco Ferrè’s textile prints, for example, and his colour juxtapositions – such as black, Prussian blue, chocolate – typical of men’s fashion. Gold, a recurring element in the entire series, stands for the heraldic, the elegance and the family ‘s legacy. A golden vignette on some pieces of the collection and subtle rays in the décor create dignity and divinity. The super-rich pattern, especially on the place plates, is consisting of different layers of symbols and motifs, which give the collection a three-dimensional look.

As an addition to the dining collection, Gianni Cinti created a candle holder, vases and boxes as well as a glass series that harmonizes perfectly with the porcelain, imitating the rays of the décor as a relief on the surface of the mouth-blown glasses.

East meets West: Turandot

Inspired by Puccini’s famous opera, the pattern “Turandot” pays homage to eighteenth-century chinoiserie - a source of inspiration also for Rosenthal’s very first projects in the 19th century. Turandot is very enigmatic and full of beauty, building a bridge between East and West, past and present.

Gianni Cinti transformed the image of a Chinese lake with bamboo, peony petals, dragonflies and gingko leaves with calligraphic precision on fine porcelain. The pattern seems very evocative and understandable at first sight – but it gets more sophisticated and delicate the longer you look at it. Here, too, the object is an invitation to an entire world: an imperial garden of the Tang Dynasty. “My décor has two sides”, Cinti explains. “One is very realistic in green and blue, with a touch of white structured flowers “a gravure” on white background. Another part of the pattern is completely graphic, in deep blue with the bamboo as white negative.” The crystal clarity of the design becomes metaphysical when placed against a white opaque, abstract background. The garden –which Gianni Cinti locates in a precise experience of a late March morning along the shores of West Lake in Hangzhou – slightly overlaps the plates ‘edges, barely restrained by the gold border with engraved ornaments.

As the connection between the East and the West is crucial for this collection, Rosenthal added some particularly Chinese dining items to it: rice bowl, porcelain spoon, chopsticks, rectangular dishes and platters as well as a tea box. The glass series of wine, tumbler and champagne, and vases, is available transparent and with a subtle periwinkle tone.

Gianni Cinti (*1979) is at home in many worlds: in product design and fashion as well as in illustration and graphic design. He received his design training at the Istituto Superiore per le Industrie Artistiche in Urbino. Cinti works for companies such as Sambonet, Rosenthal and Pininfarina as well as for fashion brands such as Marithé + François Girbaud, Alberta Ferretti and many others. Before becoming self-employed as a designer and consultant with his own studio in Milan, he worked for five years as assistant to the Italian fashion designer Gianfranco Ferré. He is currently a design consultant for many international companies. Cosmopolite, curious traveler, and passionate about contemporary art, he is a Visiting Professor at numerous universities all over the world and teaches Personal Design at the “Istituto Europeo di Design” in Milan, the city where he lives and works.