Castellani
Fortunato Pio Castellani (1794 – 1865) founded his business in 1814 on the ground floor of the Palazzo Raggi located on Rome’s Via del Corso, a road that led directly from the city’s northern gate into the center. The pieces he made during the early years were contemporary European styles, influenced by French, English and Swiss designs aimed at those who visited Rome. In time he was joined in business by two of his sons, Alessandro (1822-1883) and Augusto (1829-1914) and encouraged by various friends and patrons. By the 1850’s they were producing antique archaeological inspired jewels. The use of granulation was their signature and this proved one of the hardest skills to emulate cementing the Castellani name in jewelry history. Alessandro was also active politically and endured interrogation and even imprisonment for his beliefs. In 1859, risk of renewed imprisonment led him to flee Rome for Paris where he took an apartment and later opened a business on the Champs-Elysées. The running of the Rome workshop was left to Augusto, especially after Fortunato retired in 1861. Alessandro’s stay in Paris enabled him to promote both the Castellani name and the appreciation of revivalist jewelry. He was also able to assist in the purchase by the French government of part of the Campana Collection. The Castellani’s were instrumental in the acquisition, restoration and cataloguing of the ancient jewelry. The loss of this collection from Italy prompted Fortunato to form his own collection which he divided in to eight different periods and displayed in showcases around the walls of the showroom and they moved to new premises at 88 Via Poli. No nineteenth century lady or gentleman visiting Italy would consider a tour of Rome complete without a stop at Castellani’s. The opening of a third branch in London at 13 Frith Street was managed by Castellani’s pupil Carlo Giuliano. In 1881 the business moved for the final time to the Piazza Fontana di Trevi and Alessandro died in 1883. Augusto ran the business with his son Alfredo who was well versed in the running of the workshop and took total control upon his father’s death in 1914. European taste in jewelry had changed but the firm was kept running by the demand for jewelry souvenirs. Alfredo had no children so he made arrangements to gift the family’s collections and archives to various museums. Alfredo died on January 8th 1930.
