Vase with salamander

This pear-shaped vase designed by Giovanni Gariboldi in 1937 for the international "Arts et Techniques dans la Vie moderne" exhibition in Paris (mod 1647s), is inspired by a recurring type in the Far Eastern tradition.

Around the narrow neck there is a reptile in high relief - defined as a ‘salamander’ in the price lists - in the act of hunting with its powerful retractable tongue. Compared to prototypes in Chinese ceramics, where the symbolic meaning attributed to the image of the dragon prevailed, in this case the pose emphasizes the threatening expressiveness of the animal with much greater evidence and particular attention to naturalistic detail.

The delicate jade green colour that coats the vase may recall the Oriental type known in Europe as celadon, but it differs as it is opaque and applied to a different type of clay. 

The Ginori Museum owns four other examples of this model in different colours (invv. 3525, 3526, 3553, 3554).