The Florence Figurine factory based in Casole d’Elsa not far from Sienna in the Tuscany region of Italy is to voluntarily close its doors in February 2009.
Falling sales and demand for traditional figurines has been declining for a number of years now, but possibly the sudden and tragic death of the inspirational sculptor Giuseppe Armani in October 2006 contributed to the owner Pietro Ravenni and his fellow directors making the final tough decision to close.
Since 1973 in collaboration with Giuseppe Armani the Florence factory first produced items in the style of Capo di Monte. During the early 1980’s Giuseppe developed his very special lady figures for which he gained world renown. The elegance and flow of each piece brought the ladies to life. It is said that he would first sculpture the naked body and then dress and form the body to attain such verisimilitude.
What does this mean for our future trading with Florence?
We still have some stocks of Ladies, Flower Babies and Beautifully Big Figures ourselves and we are still able to establish stock availability through the original UK distributors who have access to the remaining stocks in the Florence warehouses.
Please continue to place your orders on line and we will advise you of product availability or possible alternatives. We do not take any payment until goods are ready to leave us.
Watch this space for further information.