With the end of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the advent of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the Opificio, founded as a court workshop, faced an irreversible crisis. Within a few decades, this crisis led the Opificio to gradually cease its production of artefacts, in favour of a different approach, converging its technical skills towards the conservation of artworks, and soon becoming a highly important restoration center. Initially, the production of works of art inspired by naturalistic subjects such as flowers, birds and fruits continued, using the stones inherited from the Medici collection. Unfortunately, the excessive production costs and the lack of financial supporters led the Opificio to partially change the kinds of items it produced, adapted to non-aristocratic customers, abandoning precious materials and simplifying the decorative compositions. In order to meet the desires of the middle-class, smaller objects that could be easily sold were also produced, yet maintaining the extraordinary craftsmanship of the past.
