Buccellati: Goldsmithing and Engraved Surfaces

In 1919 Mario Buccellati took over the Beltrami and Besnati business and opened his first shop in Milan. That first shop marked the beginning of the family’s jewellery house.^[1,2]

The business reached Rome in 1925 with Mario’s brother Carlo and Florence in 1929 with Melchiorre. The company preserves 83 letters exchanged by Mario and Gabriele d’Annunzio from 1922 to 1936, a record of their friendship alongside the house’s early expansion.^[1,2]

Buccellati’s engraving vocabulary distinguishes different surface effects. Rigato forms fine parallel lines; telato crosses lines at right angles to evoke linen or canvas; ornato lays floral engraving over a rigato ground, with matte and polished lines creating a brocade-like relief.^[3,4]