ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses how Ginori porcelain became a mark of Florentine identity, first as local production closely linked to the Medicean tradition—even after the dynasty’s extinction—then as a luxury production that provided opportunities for exploring global mercantile routes toward the Ottoman empire and, subsequently, Asia. The fact that Florentine porcelain bearing this mark could be firmly associated with the Medici must have given Ginori the idea that it could be turned into a strong identity symbol, a powerful political statement of continuity. Most of the porcelain enterprises established on the European continent between the end of the seventeenth and the eighteenth century were founded by Princes of the Blood, whose financial backing was crucial for the survival of plants that rarely operated at a profit. Far from being a mere expansion of a local market toward international clients, Ginori’s enterprise represents an emblematic and unique case of brand creation in the early modern period.
