Giovanni Ansuini – 1st generation

The Ansuini goldsmith tradition started at the beginning of the 19th century with Giovanni, son of the administrator of the Duke Caetani lands in Tuscia, a region north of Rome. Giovanni’s father found, by chance, some Etruscan furnishings and jewels of precious workmanship, and took care of their recovery with such great skill that the Duke decided to entrust him with the management of all excavations in the Tuscia region.

Giovanni Ansuini had a passion for restoring and reproducing jewels. In this period, he connected with the Castellani brothers (whose goldsmith collection is preserved in the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia in Rome) from which he learned the workman- ship of metals and precious stones. Those were important years in Italy: Rome was still under the Vatican State and wanted to become independent.

There were high hopes of renewal, the city revolted, and in 1849 the Roman Republic was proclaimed, but it lasted less than one year. The French, allied with the Pope, sent an army to restore the Vatican state asit was. Giovanni, who had helped the Roman Republic cause, had to hide, and was helped by the Duke Caetani and went to Paris. There he improved his jewelry abilities, working in the finest boutiques and becoming part of the artistic fine jewelry international set.

Giovanni returned in Rome in 1860 and founded his jewelry shop in Piazza Navona. Thanks to the accuracy, elegance and quality of his works, he became the jeweler of the Roman aristocracy.