Ludovico Bagioli is the first member of the Bagioli family to start working with soapstone. While we don't have precise historical references, hypothetically, he begins working with soapstone using a water-powered lathe in the Valbrutta area, sometime between the late 1800s and early 1900s. His son, Luigi, continues in the craft of stonecutting and strikes a deal with the municipality: in exchange for an annual fee, they extract soapstone from a mine in the Valbrutta area.
Renzo Bagioli, the successor, is a passionate researcher of precious minerals, particularly remembered for the Demantoids he found in Valmalenco. A piece of notable value is now preserved at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, while another is exhibited at the Smithsonian Museum in New York.
Renzo, along with his son Roberto, invests in an electric lathe and relocates to a small workshop in Ganda to begin crafting Lavéc. Renzo focuses on sourcing the rock, while Roberto handles the turning and binding tasks. After his father's death, Roberto initially continues stonecutting as a side job, then he abandons this profession to work as a miner at the IMI Fabi company.
In 2019, I decided to rediscover the craft that had characterized my family's history for decades: I empty out the workshop that my grandmother had filled with firewood, I get the lathe, which I had never seen before then, running again; and with my dad, we began this incredible adventure together.
My father Roberto taught me everything about this job: how to turn the stone, how to use the tools of my grandfather and great-grandfather, how to bind Lavéc. All these techniques stem from an ancient artisanal tradition practiced in Valmalenco for centuries!