Award Winning Antonio Zen and Son Artistic Ceramics Factory

The “G.B. Zen & Son” factory was founded in 1885 by Gio Batta Zen, in partnership with Demetrio Primon. His son Antonio, a skilled sculptor, created a wide range of traditional style objects. In the 1920’s, the Zen factory was one of the most important in the area, with 80 employees and six kilns. In 1905, the sculptor Antonio Zen made the copper statue of Saint Peter placed on the top of Nove’s bell tower. He also made fours concrete statues of the Evangelists for the bell tower, but they were never mounted and are currently placed in the courtyard of the factory.

In 1924, in order to embellish the factory, he made the large bas-relief frieze, where he illustrated the different phases of ceramic production undertaken by worker putti. A large female figure is placed in the corner like a ship’s figurehead, holding a small vase in her hands.