Imagine you discovered this mosaic (above) at an estate sale or antiques shop.
It sure looks like a Montici.
If you know anything about Richard Blow’s art, you immediately spot the similar selection, arrangement and colors of fruit. Your mind goes back to the half-dozen verified Montici fruit arrangement mosaics catalogued in the Society database.
For instance, this verified Montici: “Nine Fruits #6”
If you’re really on your game, you may hesitate for a second at the knife in the watermelon. Richard’s seven known fruit arrangements all feature a watermelon –yes -- but none feature a knife.
Hmm…
On the other hand, multiple Montici mosaics feature a stand-alone watermelon with a knife.
Like this verified Montici: “Nenci Watermelon #1”
So it could be a Montici.
But you can’t find a Montici logo on your mystery mosaic.
Uh-Oh.
Looks, like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck — but it’s not a duck.
So who made it?
You flip it over and find the answer: It’s an Ugolini.
Florence’s famous G. Ugolini pietra dura workshop, founded in 1868, predated Richard Blow’s Montici workshop by almost a century. When Richard first started creating his mosaics in the late 1940s, he didn’t have his own workshop. Instead, he gave commissions to execute his art to the existing, established Florentine pietra dura workshops of Giuseppe Fiaschi, Renzo Fracassini, Leopoldo Menegatti -- and Emilio Ugolini, son of Giovanni Ugolini, founder of the celebrated G. Ugolini workshop. On the back of both Montici and Ugoloni artworks, you’ll find similarly incised signatures, stickers, and the ubiquitous “Made in Italy..” Richard borrowed from the industry, and he and Emilio shared ideas for mosaics.
Which suggests a fun question— who first conceived this particular, captivating, colorful, still-life arrangement?
Thematically, fruits and flowers are classic Florentine pietra dura; but the fruits float in empty space, not in a bowl, which may suggest a modern, Richard twist.
Any evidence the Ugolini design chronologically predated the Montici design? According to the seller on First Dibs, the Ugolini fruit arrangement was executed in the period 1960-1969; but some Montici fruit arrangements are similarly dated.
So who copied whom?
We’ll never know.
What we do know is that Richard managed to capture the American market, creating a dominant brand. Based on my tracking of pietra dura auction sales in the U.S., a Montici mosaic will always command a significantly higher price than an Ugolini, all things being equal (size, theme, publicity, etc.)
Bottom line?
If you have the money; or are investing for resale; or gravitate towards a more modern iconography, the magic is with Montici.