In the 1920s, in Northern Italy, the brothers Camillo, Cezaro and Alfonso Bialetti produced in their workshops aluminum household equipment. Renato Bialetti, son of Alfonso, appropriated the family brand, industrializsed the production of stovetop coffee makers in the early 1950s, and sold roughly 300 million pots worldwide. Producing clones of his product to beat competitors, the controversial entrepreneur Renato Bialetti did not deem keeping records, prototypes, or archives necessary.

In this void, artist David Bergé began gathering Bialetti machines near the factory in ruins, at second-hand markets, and in flagship stores. This book is Bergé’s proposal of a Bialetti catalogue. It provides insights into the production process of a piece of precision engineering, nourished by the voices of members of the industrialist’s family, as well as former factory workers, and union representatives: Bialetti, a twentieth century icon, no longer part of every kitchen today.