Rosenthal Heritage Collection - Midas

Rosenthal Heritage Collection - Midas

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.

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.