Perforated disc "Esorcismo"

Perforated disc on a square base featuring the decoration “Esorcismo” [inv. 3085]. Richard-Ginori manufactory, Gio Ponti Art Collection. Hand-painted porcelain in gold engraved with a pointed agate tool. The object is usually identified as a tabletop paperweight, although alternative hypotheses about its function have been proposed (it could, for example, serve as a watch holder). The decoration, referred to as “Sortilegio” in a 1929 letter, features a rhodial motif on one side and a series of stylized images on the other, including the sun, a grill, a wheel, and more. While the reference to non-Western art and cultures is not explicit, as noted by Oliva Rucellai, it is very likely that the perforated disc form itself derives from Oriental sources (Chinese Bi disc).