Rabarbaro Zucca
Vevey, Säuberlin & Pfeiffer S.A., [ca.1950]. [Anonymous] Original Advertising Poster for Rabarbaro Zucca. Säuberlin & Pfeiffer S.A. : Vevey, [ca.1950]. (1280x900mm) colour offset on yellow stock, blank verso. Fine.
Print
[ANONYMOUS].
Rabarbaro Zucca.
Vevey : Säuberlin & Pfeiffer S.A., circa 1950.
Original advertising poster, (1280 × 900 mm) blank verso. Offset printed in colours on yellow stock, with a large bottle of Rabarbaro Zucca placed diagonally across the composition and a stylised Asian woman, holding a glass, arranged so that her body and outstretched arms form a large ‘Z’. The product name appears in large green capitals at head, with ‘APERITIF’ across the centre.
As new. The paper is pristine, with no creasing, tears, losses, fading or retouching. Linen-backed by a professional conservator.
¶ An arresting example of mid-century advertising for Rabarbaro Zucca, the Milanese rhubarb-based amaro created by Ettore Zucca in 1845. At 16% alcohol, Zucca is a relatively light amaro, with the characteristic tart bitterness of rhubarb balanced by bitter citrus, herbs and spices. It was marketed both as an aperitivo and digestivo, and by the early twentieth century had become closely associated with Milanese café culture.
The Zucca name was also attached to one of Milan's best-known cafés. Established in 1867 at the entrance to the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II opposite the Duomo, the Caffè Zucca became a prominent meeting place and gave its name to the later Zucca in Galleria. Its clientele included figures associated with Milanese musical and artistic life, among them Giuseppe Verdi and Arturo Toscanini. The brand also received royal patronage and was recognised as a supplier to the Italian Royal Household.
The stylised female figure belongs to a distinctive Zucca advertising tradition. A related composition is documented in a circa 1936 poster by Sergio Franciscone (1912–1977), now in the Museo Nazionale Collezione Salce, Treviso. It similarly depicts a Japanese woman holding a glass and arranged to form the letter ‘Z’. The present anonymous design retains this distinctive combination of figure, glass and letterform, but recasts it in a more geometric composition dominated by the diagonally placed bottle. The earlier poster provides a significant visual parallel, although the designer of the present work remains unidentified.
The use of Rabarbaro Zucca in cocktails is documented in Elvezio Grassi’s Mille Misture (1936), which records Zucca in the Milano-Milano cocktail, with Campari and seltz, and the Milanino Cocktail, combining Zucca with Campari and Amaro di Venezia.
Examples in such exceptionally fresh condition are uncommon.
Item #11790
Price: $2,750.00 AUD