Black ceramic sculpture, attributed to Nereo Boaretto, Padua, Italy, 1970s

A sculptural studio ceramic with a powerfully reduced formal language: from a rectangular base, several staggered, lenticular discs rise, arranged one behind the other like overlapping fan leaves, creating an open upper edge. In two of the front discs, a slender, leaf- or feather-like form is incised, its interior structured with fine, parallel-grooved lamellae – a precisely crafted detail that shimmers in glancing light. The deep black, matte-velvety glaze covers a slightly pitted, hand-built surface, revealing the warm, reddish tone of the fired clay on the unglazed underside of the base. Precisely this combination of lenticular, staggered disc bodies with narrow, elongated openings and dark, textured glaze is characteristic of the studio ceramics of Nereo Boaretto, who worked in Padua from 1914 to 1977.

With a height of 29 cm, a width of 22.5 cm, and a depth of 6.5 cm, and weighing 3.1 kg, the sculpture appears surprisingly present despite its compact, flat construction, and is suitable for display freestanding on a sideboard or console, or placed against a wall, where the shadows cast by the cut forms are further emphasized. The condition is very good, without chips or flaking on the delicate disc edges, with four original felt glides on the underside.