Duron, Nieri & Bacci Chalkware

Click here for the Nieri chalkware collection

[March 2021 Information] – There is also a growing collection of restored Nieri by Matt Rundle that you can find here: @lagunaladylamps on Instagram.

Diomede Nieri, an Italian citizen, trading as D. N. Art Products. They had a Registered Address at 26 and 28 Trafford Street, Hulme, Manchester 15, Lancashire in the UK. D.N. Art Products was comprised of Diomede and Nicolao, but it has not been possible so far to say if this is father/son, brothers or just pure coincidence!

Not confirmed, but could this be a record of their deaths? Diomede is such an unusual name after all! Ancestry.Com

THE NIERI SURNAME: THE STRONGEST LUCCA ATTRIBUTION ON THE SITE

Genealogical and heraldic evidence. The Nieri surname is one of the most specifically and historically Luccan surnames encountered across all the family names on chalkware.gallery. This is evidenced by:

Forebears.io: 70 percent of Nieri worldwide live in the Americas (primarily Brazil 653 people, Argentina and USA), with 22 percent in Italy. The heavy Americas concentration is the classic signature of a figurinai diaspora surname: families whose Italian members emigrated generations ago to the Americas, leaving a reduced domestic Italian population. This exact pattern is seen with Paoli, Bacci and other confirmed figurinai surnames.

MyHeritage genealogical record: The surname entry explicitly states “The surname Nieri is specific to the upper Tuscany region, particularly Lucca and its surrounding areas.” An Ancestry.com genealogical record confirms: Dante Nieri, born 2 January 1921 in Lucca, Toscana, Italy.

1323 historical record: The surname first appears in written records in La Nuova Chronica by Giovanni Villani (1348), where the text describes events in 1323 involving Lucca. Castruccio, the Lord of Lucca, ordered the assassination of several individuals including a member of the Nieri family holding power in the city. This is the earliest documented Nieri, and he is explicitly Luccan.

Wikipedia: Nieri is listed as a spelling variation of Neri, which is itself derived from the Italian “nero” (black). The -ieri suffix is a specifically Tuscan patronymic variant form.

THE CERAMELLI PAIANI / HERALDRY INSTITUTE

Source: Heraldry Institute of Rome, dossier 2720, citing the Raccolta Ceramelli Papiani, fasc. 6104, held at the Archivio di Stato di Firenze.
For the italians amongst us, see the full text of the heraldic dossier (in Italian) which reads:

Nobile famiglia lucchese, proveniente da S.Cassiano a Vico, ricordata nei documenti come facente parte del Consiglio della Repubblica fin dal 1370 con Angelo e Nicolao Nieri. Nicolao, di Lorenzo, prese parte alla congiura che fece deporre dalla signoria di Lucca Paolo Guinigi, e fu deputato ad assistere alla demolizione della sua cittadella. Tommaso, di Lorenzo, fu Anziano nel 1433; Paolo cancelliere maggiore fino all’anno della morte (1619); Vincenzo, noto compositore di opere sceniche musicate, fra le quali la Lucinda, che, rappresentata a Lucca nel 1713 dalla cortigiana Cecilia Teresa Valenti dette luogo a un processo clamoroso. Ad un altro ramo della famiglia appartenne Lodovico, creato cardinale da Pasquale II nel 1099. Della famiglia Nieri, proveniente da Ponte a Moriano, fu Idelfonso (m. 2 febbraio 1920) esimio cultore degli studi classici, e specialmente ricercatore ed illustratore delle tradizioni popolari lucchesi. I Nieri furono iscritti nel Libro d’oro della Repubblica Lucchese del 1628 e in quello del Ducato Borbonico nel 1826 col grado di nobilta patrizia, in persona di Francesco, di Nicolao (sp. Angela Valeri).

Hope that is clear for everyone, if not, see the summary translation and commentary:

  • The Nieri are a noble family of Lucca, originating from San Cassiano a Vico (a hamlet in the hills east of Lucca city – see map below outlined in yellow)
  • They are documented in the Council of the Republic of Lucca from 1370, with Angelo and Nicolao Nieri among the earliest named members
  • A Nicolao Nieri (son of Lorenzo) participated in the conspiracy that deposed Paolo Guinigi as Lord of Lucca (this was 1430) and was appointed to oversee demolition of Guinigi’s citadel
  • A Tommaso (son of Lorenzo) was an Elder of the Republic in 1433
  • A Paolo Nieri served as Chancellor until his death in 1619
  • A Vincenzo Nieri was a noted composer of musical theatre works, including “La Lucinda,” performed in Lucca in 1713
  • A branch of the Nieri family from Ponte a Moriano (another Lucca comune – highlighted in green on the map below) included Idelfonso Nieri (died 2 February 1920), a distinguished classical scholar and researcher of Lucchese popular traditions
  • The family was inscribed in the Libro d’Oro (Golden Book of Nobility) of the Republic of Lucca in 1628, and again in that of the Bourbon Duchy in 1826 with the grade of Patricie Nobility, in the person of Francesco son of Nicolao (married Angela Valeri)
  • Coat of arms (from Ceramelli Papiani): D’oro, al delfino guizzante in palo d’argento, e alla fascia attraversante di rosso (Gold, with a dolphin leaping in pale of silver, and a red fess throughout)

This is a useful find when trying to pinpoint Nieri historically. The Nieri family is one of the oldest and most extensively documented noble families in Lucca. Their documented continuous presence in the city from 1370, their participation in the most significant political events of the Republic of Lucca, and their inscription in the Libro d’Oro make them not merely “Luccan” in origin but part of the city’s civic and aristocratic history. This is qualitatively different from most other surnames on chalkware.gallery. Diomede and Nicolao Nieri, if they descend from this family (and the surname concentration in Lucca strongly suggests it), are carrying one of Lucca’s most historically rooted surnames.

The Nicolao recurrence: The Heraldry Institute entry names several Nicolao Nieri across different centuries (Nicolao in 1370, Nicolao in the 1430 conspiracy, and Francesco son of Nicolao in 1826). The name Nicolao Nieri reappears in Manchester in the mid-20th century. Nicolao is an archaic Latinised form of the name (standard modern Italian: Nicola or Nicolo). Its use in the 1950s Manchester context is consistent with a conservative Luccan family retaining traditional given names across generations.

FORENAME ANALYSIS: DIOMEDE – WARNING – TRYING TO JOIN THE DOTS ONLY!

The forename Diomede (Italian form of Diomedes) is classical Greek in origin, meaning “god-like cunning” or “advised by Zeus,” derived from Dios (of Zeus) + medea (plans, counsel). In Greek legend, Diomedes was one of the greatest heroes at Troy, celebrated for his courage and intelligence.

Diomede is used predominantly in Italian-speaking communities and is rare but not unknown in Tuscany. It is a deliberately classical, learned name — the kind of given name associated with educated or civic-minded families who maintained connections with classical learning. This is consistent with the Nieri family history: a Vincenzo Nieri was a noted composer, and an Idelfonso Nieri was described as a distinguished classical scholar specifically of Lucchese tradition.

It is possible that the use of Diomede as a first name in a Luccan family is a meaningful cultural signal. It points toward a family with classical education and civic identity — exactly what the Ceramelli Papiani documents describe for the Nieri of Lucca.
Caution: The forename analysis is circumstantial. Diomede was used across Italy and has no exclusive Luccan connection. It is offered as supplementary evidence for family character, not as primary genealogical proof.

THE HULME ADDRESS: MANCHESTER’S ITALIAN WORKSHOP ZONE

Trafford Street, Hulme, Manchester 15: Hulme in this period was an inner-city industrial suburb immediately south of Manchester city centre, with dense Victorian terraced housing and small manufacturing workshops. It was not an established Italian community area in the way that Clerkenwell was in London — there was no formal “Little Italy” in Hulme. By the late 1950s and 1960s, Hulme was already earmarked for the slum clearance programme that would demolish most of its Victorian street fabric in the late 1960s to build the Hulme Crescents. Note: I can’t find any evidence of Trafford Street in Hulme (as a district in Manchester) on Google Maps, but a lot has changed in that area since the 1950s! See the graphic above and the now fairly famous Deansgate Shopping Centre.

26 and 28 Trafford Street: The use of two street numbers (26 and 28) is notable and can’t find any specific reason for it – there is also no 26 or 28 Trafford Street anymore after the A57(M) was built and then Deansgate Shopping Centre. That said, this could mean: (a) two adjacent properties used as workshop and storage or workshop and showroom, or (b) two separate registration addresses used at different times. It distinguishes Nieri from most other designers on the site who used a single address.

Nieri vs the other Manchester designers: Comparing addresses: Bacci (Camp Street, Salford 7), Jackson/Migliorini (Rigby Street, Salford 7), Girolami/Barsetti (Upton Street, Ardwick). Hulme is a different area entirely. It sits south of the city centre, while Ardwick is east and Salford is west. The Nieri address does not cluster with the other Manchester designers. This raises the question of whether Diomede arrived independently, possibly earlier, before an Italian figurine-making community formed in Manchester.

They had a Service Address listed as c/o Wilson, Gunn & Ellis, 57 Market Street, Manchester 1. Wilson Gunn has been a leading practice in Patents etc since 1864. Find out more on their history here

THE 1955 FINE: WHAT IT TELLS US

[Nov 2021] – And it would appear that in 1955, Nicolao Nieri was fined £200 (equivalent to about £5500 in 2021 numbers – see here)

The fine is from 1955, which is in the period of Diomede’s earliest BT registrations (April 1954 is the first confirmed one). This is very early in the D.N. Art Products operation. The “D.N.” trading name itself (Diomede-Nicolao) uses both names equally, suggesting equal partners rather than a senior/junior relationship. The fine amount of £200 in 1955 is approximately £6,500-£7,000 in 2026 values. For a small plaster figurine workshop in Hulme, this was a significant penalty. The tax evasion context is consistent with the early-stage informal economy of immigrant craft businesses in this period, where cash sales without proper VAT/tax accounting were common.

THE REGISTRATION TIMELINE AND TRADING LIFE

From what I have found to date:

  • Earliest confirmed registration: 28 April 1954 (one piece registered this date)
  • Active design registration period: April 1954 to at least April 1965
  • That is 11 years of confirmed activity — the longest active period of any Manchester designer on the site except Bacci
  • A fruit bowl design was registered in November 1954 (Reg 873566 and 873567) — very early pieces
  • The largest cluster of registrations is 17 October 1961 (multiple pieces registered simultaneously)
  • Active in 1965: piece registered 28 April 1965 (the same day of the month as the 1954 debut — coincidence, or a meaningful registration date?)

A note on the volume of output: The Nieri collection page on this site is one of the largest on the site, with 3 pages of registered designs. This is comparable to Paoli and substantially larger than most other designers. Nieri was a major commercial producer, not a small-scale operator.

The Nieri-Nieri confusion noted on this site: A visitor comment on the Lady Lamp Reg 893600 page asks whether Nieri is part of DURON. The site’s answer is: they are not. They traded at the same time and made similar pieces, which causes confusion. This suggests their visual style was close to the Lohnberg/DURON output — worth noting as evidence of what the market demanded rather than evidence of any business relationship.

SOURCES

Heraldry Institute of Rome, dossier 2720 — the Nieri family heraldic entry, citing the Raccolta Ceramelli Papiani, fascicolo 6104, held at the Archivio di Stato di Firenze. This is the session’s highest-quality source. URL: https://www.heraldrysinstitute.com/lang/en/cognomi/Nieri/idc/2720/
Ancestry.com genealogical record — Dante Nieri, born 2 January 1921, Lucca, Toscana, Italy. A user-contributed family tree record, so treat as corroborating evidence rather than a standalone primary source. URL: https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/dante-nieri-24-9vhp4b
Forebears.io — Nieri surname — global distribution data showing 70 percent of Nieri worldwide in the Americas (primarily Brazil, Argentina) and 22 percent in Italy. URL: https://forebears.io/surnames/nieri
ItaliaNames.com — Nieri distribution map — Italian-specific distribution map for the Nieri surname. URL: https://www.italianames.com/italian-last-names-maps/NIERI
Geneanet — NIERI surname — geographic distribution of 672 individuals with the name Nieri across Geneanet’s genealogical databases. URL: https://en.geneanet.org/surnames/NIERI
MyHeritage — Nieri surname entry — states explicitly “The surname Nieri is specific to the upper Tuscany region, particularly Lucca and its surrounding areas.” This is a secondary aggregation site rather than primary research, but the Lucca attribution it gives is consistent with the primary sources above. URL: https://www.myheritage.com/names/gina_nieri
surnameorigin.info — Nieri — mentions the 1323 Villani chronicle reference. A commercial surname site, not an academic source, so included as a possibility!. The underlying Villani chronicle is genuine but treat it as a pointer to verify against the actual Villani text. URL: https://surnameorigin.info/nieri
Wikipedia — Neri (surname) — lists Nieri as a spelling variant of Neri, derived from the Italian “nero” (black), with the -ieri suffix as a Tuscan patronymic variant form. URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neri_(surname)

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