Galleria Marca Corona is much more than just a Company Museum: it is a real journey through Sassuolo’s ceramic district. From its origins to the present day, here we find an in-depth analysis of the evolution of ceramics as customs and needs evolved, in a veritable discovery journey into the know-how and excellence of Made in Italy.
Inaugurated in 2010, Galleria Marca Corona tells the many technical and stylistic changes occurred over the last three centuries, through the founding and evolution of the Sassuolo ceramic district, culminating in the arrival of technicians and qualified personnel to give origin to the reality we are familiar with today
The Galleria contains the exhibits of what was the “Museo della Fabbrica Rubbiani” museum, which was set up in the nineteenth century alongside the Contrada del Borgo facility. It aims to show the entrepreneurial and artistic continuity between past and present, between passion for craftsmanship and contemporary production.
More than 250 items
Entering this place – full of history and timeless charm -, you will come across more than 250 items including artefacts, books, photographs and documents: a chronological journey starting from 1741, the year the company was founded, right up to the present day.
The collection encapsulates the genetic inheritance of Marca Corona and bears witness to the many technical and stylistic changes over the last three centuries: starting with tableware and the first decorative items, going on to plates with street names and house numbers and then finally decorated floor and wall tiles, the precursors of today’s high quality industrial products.
The famous Sassuolo white
It is therefore possible to admire what was produced in the mid-eighteenth century, and then move on to the mid-nineteenth century, where the famous Sassuolo white and its combination with blue (a chromatic combination that Marca Corona still preserves in its logo) can be seen for the first time. We pass through the extensive Rubbiani production with the great artists Bagnoli, Casaltoli, Neri, Barberini, up to the first artisan productions of the twentieth century, their industrialisation with the first dry-pressed tiles, and then end with the advent of modern industrial tiles.
Majolica tableware and finely decorated furnishing accessories dating back to far-off eras gradually give way to the creations through which Marca Corona has distinguished itself and is recognised all over the world: reliable ceramic surfaces with superior technical performance and, above all, perfectly able to respond and adapt to changing fashions, customs and social habits. All this without losing sight of the company’s core values: quality, uniqueness, respect and care for the territory and the environment.
The whole exhibition space, conceived by Studio Progettisti Associati, offers visitors a true multimedia tour, involving them into photographic documentation, explanatory videos and interactive stories that provide context for each piece on display.
Multimedia tour
The route through Galleria Marca Corona is divided into six exhibition rooms, each dedicated to a specific historical period.
"Tra Corte e Fabbrica - Between Court and Factory" exhibition
To hand down the Ceramic Culture, tell the story of the District and reaffirm the indissoluble bond with the Sassuolo area, Marca Corona has also promoted, in cooperation with Gallerie Estensi in Modena, the “Tra Corte e Fabbrica” Exhibition: from 24 July 2020 until 2025 at Palazzo Ducale – the Ducal Palace – in Sassuolo, the Villa Vigarani Guastalla Collection, a collection of over 250 unique ceramic pieces made between the mid-eighteenth century and the early twentieth century by the best local craftsmen, will be on public display.
With this new initiative, Marca Corona wishes to confirm its commitment to the protection and enhancement of the local artistic and cultural heritage, already witnessed by the creation of the Company Museum, and to create a dual pathway between the Court and the Factory, in order to allow the public to have an in-depth and complete view of the District’s history, combining the company’s DNA with a private collection that is equally significant and representative of local production.
To discover the Collection’s artefacts, take a first virtual tour and find out the opening hours of the Exhibition at Palazzo Ducale, click here
