a 'Balilla' ceramic figure, Essevi, Italy 1930's.
Signed ESSEVI MADE IN ITALY painter's signature, incised G 23 -38?, height 31,5 cm.
The base with two small glaze chips.
The young Sandro Vachetti studied at the Accademia Albertina and began his career as an artist in Turin. In 1914 he moved to the United States where he developed his technique in female portrait art and ceramics. He created small female figurines that became very popular with some American movie stars.
In 1919, back in Turin, he met Enrico Scavini, owner of the famous doll factory Lenci and his wife Elena König. Vacchetti was Lenci's artistic director from 1922 to 1934 and then founded his own ceramics company, Essevi (imitating the sound of his initials in Italian), which he led until 1952.