Rosenthal Heritage Collection - Turandot

Rosenthal Heritage Collection - Turandot

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.

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.