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A native of Faenza, Italy—the namesake of the French term faïence, or tin-glazed earthenware—Zauli was drawn early to his region’s renowned ceramic tradition, enrolling in the city’s Royal Institute of Ceramic Art in 1937 at the age of eleven. In the early years of his career he worked exclusively in the low-fire earthenware and tin glazes typical of Faenza potters. However, in the mid-1950s he began a period of great experimentation and made what was considered a radical decision in Faenza: to work exclusively with stoneware rather than earthenware clay bodies. Stoneware production—largely a northern endeavor—had little precedent in Italy, and indeed Zauli said that his early forays into high-fire stoneware production were “like exploring a sea floor still unknown.” This vase was produced when Zauli worked on the potter’s wheel almost exclusively. Beginning in the early 1960s, Zauli began to identify himself as a “sculptor of vases,” exploring the spatial possibilities of a conventional functional form. This vase incorporates a unique glaze that became known as Bianco Zauli or Zauli White. Made with wood ash, zirconium, silica and quartz, Zauli White in fact has nuanced shades of pink, gray, and brown.