Without a doubt, the Etruscans were the first to give a boost to Impruneta cotto, fascinated as they were by the possibilities of marl: that special clay to be found exclusively in Impruneta.
It is not until the Renaissance, however, that we see cotto as protagonist of the well-balanced splendour of villas and palaces where the idea of man as centre of the universe was expressed. With the waning of this period, cotto was gradually neglected and in time became part of rural culture. It entered those homes which, together with the hills and cypress trees, give the Tuscan countryside its unique beauty. Rural Tuscan culture, which included the master's home, entrusted cotto with very important tasks: those of roofing and flooring the house, of decorating it, of protecting the good quality of oil. In Impruneta, as elsewhere, cotto was produced by the various estates in quantities to suit their needs in small unpretentious kilns which were activated in winter when the countryside required less labour. The excellence of Impruneta's product, however, made a name for itself even on nearby markets: demand increased, workers became specialized and many went into business for themselves.
 

At the beginning of the XX century, Carlo Sannini Baldassarri was one of the most important producers of Impruneta cotto despite the fact that he possessed only one of those small kilns used on estates. He was known for the excellent quality clay of his quarries and esteemed for the soundness of his own achievements.

The limits of the craftsman's activity, however, became too confining for him. He discovered that new techniques in the field of brick-works were being developed in other parts of Europe and so, in the course of a year, he went to see them first-hand. Upon his return, he ordered a few of those machines which had most interested him and had new quarters built to house them. In 1910 he founded a new factory, for the times demonstrating considerable daring, which he proudly called "Mechanical Works for the Production of Brick": the first industrial installation for the manufacture of cotto. His production satisfied all of the demands of the times: from roofing tiles to vases, from piping to large jugs for water, wine or oil. With the new, however, the Sannini Company maintained straight contact with the culture of cotto and its glorious past, contributing in the years to important works of restoration.

Sannini so became the most prepared and specialized firm to co-operate in the great rebirth of cotto, a process which has not ceased since the end of the Second World War. Those architects who intended, in the beginning of the fifties, to re-propose the use of cotto in architecture, found an efficient partner in Sannini.

The Tuscan home returns to the centre of attention and cotto reclaims poetry, elegance and warmth in the contemporary home. Cotto asserts itself for its naturalness, for its expression of a long history in living, for its exceptional qualities which maintain it unaltered, indoors or outdoors.
Sannini confronts the new reality of cotto with the competence and ingeniousness of its own experience: indeed, the company was the first to attempt to give a boost and perspectives to one of the most significant vestiges of ancient Tuscan tradition.