Rhino

Dimensions: 24x12x16 cm – 9 1/2″x4 3/4″x6 1/4″ in

Issue Year: 2017

Nero comes from the world Black in Italian. As all our creations this piece, made entirely in Gres, is the result of a unique handmade process of the highest technical and artistic quality. Each figurine is carved and painted by hand; insuring no two subjects are ever carved exactly the same.

Gres (from the French Word grès) is a noble and ancient material whose components sourced entirely from the earth: clay, kaolin, feldspar and quartz. This is a material that acquires density and impermeability when fired at high temperature. Clay, kaolin, feldspar and quartz have a crucial influence on the vitrification of the gres, giving the sculpture its own color which may vary from cream to black.

Gres components are very similar to those of porcelain, sharing the same plasticity and hardness and place gres on the same quality level as porcelain. In Japan, both porcelain and gres share the same name, hon yaki, which means “truly fired”. A sculpture made in gres must be at least twenty hours inside the kiln in order to reach a temperature that exceeds the 1200^o C. This temperature is necessary to obtain the toughness and resistance characteristic of gres that can be easily noticeable when touching the surface.