The Room of Wonders
Inside Ettore’s house. Aspects, angles, compositions, solutions, constructions of a collector and tireless hoarder.
Ettore Guatelli lives here
"Please call if someone needs me". Here is the start of the journey inside Ettore’s house, which is a museum by itself: a temple of collecting and exhibition.
La porta di accesso a Casa Guatelli (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
La camera di Ettore Guatelli (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
Ettore’s Room. Like him, it is simple and straightforward: a bed, a stove, clothes hangers hanging from the ceiling as if it were a wardrobe without walls, binders created with salvaged wood from old mailboxes, windmills and other creations of Ettore, and the Olivetti typewriter.
I libri di Ettore Guatelli (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
The library corridor
At the end of the second staircase appears Ettore’s library, tasked with preserving a part of the many books containing his lifelong job as an “investigator” of history, stories and lives.
On the landing
On the library landing, as soon as you turn your back on the books, there is an inviting door leading to the Glasses Room (also known as the Aunt’s Room, since an aunt of Ettore’s used to sleep there).
La camera dei vetri, o camera della zia (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
Here we are in the Glasses Room, where Ettore’s collector spirit fully comes alive. Laid neatly on the different sized shelves are glass items and containers; each “glass” piece contains a particular kind of item, as though it were a big catalogue for the world of items inside the Guatelli Museum.
La camera dei vetri, o camera della zia (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
The Glasses Room.
La camera dei vetri, o camera della zia (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
We are still in the Glasses Room, where various items, accordions and concertinas are waiting to tell us their stories.
La camera dei vetri, o camera della zia (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
The Glasses Room.
The Box Room
In the Box Room, also known as the Can Room, boxes, tins and containers of all shapes and colors are proudly displayed and tell us of the history of graphics and illustration. The Box Room envelops the visitors in a carousel of images, colors… and curiosity.
La porta della camera delle scatole (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
Ettore tells the tale of one red tin can of tomato paste, hung by a layman farmer on the wall over his bed instead of a religious icon.
La camera delle scatole (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
The Box Room.
La camera delle scatole (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
Even the ceiling takes part in the carousel of pictures and colors; pieces of wooden and cardboard boxes, trays, demijohn caps, and so on.
La camera delle scatole (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
The Box Room was Ettore’s parents’ master bedroom. A big tube of tomato paste used as advertisement has the task of welcoming the visitor’s glance in this apotheosis of containers.
La camera delle scatole (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
A dense corner in the Box Room.
Il ballatoio delle ceramiche (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
The China Walkway
Once you have gone up the last staircase of Casa Guatelli, the China Walkway makes its sumptuous debut. The last floor of the house is dedicated to dozens of china sets, soup tureens, cups, teacups, mugs, teapots, and all sorts of things made of porcelain.
The extensive collection of soup tureens for anolini (stuffed pasta typical to Parma and its province) sits on one of the walls of the walkway.
Il ballatoio delle ceramiche (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
The Ceramics Landing.
Il ballatoio delle ceramiche (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
The collection of soup tureens for anolini pasta and the teacup wall.
The Clock Room
From the China Walkway, we face the Clock Room directly.
La camera degli orologi (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
The Clock Room was first Ettore’s bedroom, then the guest bedroom, but most of all it is the place for time keeping mechanisms (the clocks), writing instruments and calculators.
La camera degli orologi (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
As the door closes, we stay in the Clock Room.
La camera degli orologi (20th Century) by Ettore GuatelliMuseo Ettore Guatelli
The bed in the Clock Room is the stage for ever changing landscapes of items, blankets, linens, clothes, and carpet beaters.
Text by Mario Turci.
English translation by Anna Giulia Compagnoni.
We would like to thank Patrick Leech and Anna Giulia Compagnoni (University of Bologna), Jessica Anelli, Mauro Davoli, Monica Citti.
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