LEON GALLETO (1931-2009). Unique, double-sided vase of glazed stoneware with reliefs of birds, Saxbo, Denmark, 1954-56.

Unique, double-sided vase with reliefs depicting birds designed and executed by Leon Galleto at Saxbo, Denmark in the period 1954-56.

Made of stoneware with sides and top glazed in iron oxide. Front and back with reliefs glazed in predominantly green and brown shades.

Signed “Galleto” and stamped with Saxbo's monogram on the bottom.

Height: 15.7 cm. Length: 16.4 cm. Width: 4.5 cm.

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Léon Galleto (1931-2009), originally Zugmeyer, was born in Alsace, France. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Strasbourg and Copenhagen and then lived in Sweden.

Galleto returned to Denmark and started working at Saxbo in 1954. His robust and cubist style with striking reliefs supplemented Saxbo's more minimalistic range with new vitality and the factory's founder Nathalie Krebs stated: "His production fell completely outside Saxbo's style and was extremely modern". Several of Galleto’s works were adorned with stylized, naïve depictions of people and animals in a period style recognizable in the works of, for example, British designer Tibor Reich and Finnish ceramist Birger Kaipiainien.

Although Galleto's works were successfully received, he left Saxbo after two years and moved in 1958 first to New York and then to Sausalito, California, after meeting the owner of Heath Ceramics, Edith Heath, who was the daughter of Danish emigrants.

Heath Ceramics created ceramic architectural elements for home decor, among other things, in collaboration with leading architects of the time such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Eero Saarinen. Galleto designed three-dimensional tiles for Heath Ceramics but devoted himself mainly to developing the company's marketing until 1983.