Casablanca Memphis
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood, Plastic
Vintage 1980s Italian Cabinets
Wood
People Also Browsed
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Pedestals
Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ashtrays
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Beds and Bed Frames
Cotton, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Cabinets
Wood
Vintage 1970s Italian Post-Modern Dry Bars
Steel, Chrome
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Metal
Vintage 1980s Italian Table Lamps
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Side Tables
Wood, Plastic
1990s Italian Post-Modern Collectibles and Curiosities
Laminate, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern End Tables
Glass, Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern End Tables
Plastic, Wood
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Cabinets
Metal
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Sofas
Metal
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Gold Leaf, Silver Leaf
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Carpets
Wool
Recent Sales
Vintage 1980s Italian Shelves
Wood
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Secretaires
Mahogany, Maple
Late 20th Century American Art Deco Floor Lamps
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wine Coolers
Aluminum
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Prints
Glass, Wood, Paper
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Bookcases
Wood, Laminate
Late 20th Century Italian Memphis Group Cabinets
Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Bookcases
Wood, Laminate
Late 20th Century Italian Cabinets
Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Table Lamps
Vintage 1980s Italian Memphis Group Models and Miniatures
Laminate, Wood
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Ettore Sottsass for sale on 1stDibs
An architect, industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, Ettore Sottsass led a revolution in the aesthetics and technology of modern design in the late 20th century.
Sottsass was the oldest member of the Memphis Group — a design collective, formed in Milan in 1980, whose irreverent, spirited members included Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Michael Graves and Shiro Kuramata. All had grown disillusioned by the staid, black-and-brown “corporatized” modernism that had become endemic in the 1970s. Memphis (the name stemmed from the title of a Bob Dylan song) countered with bold, brash, colorful, yet quirkily minimal designs for furniture, glassware, ceramics and metalwork. They mocked high-status by building furniture with inexpensive materials such as plastic laminates, decorated to resemble exotic finishes such as animal skins. Their work was both functional and — as intended — shocking. Even as it preceded the Memphis Group's formal launch, Sottsass's iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell and radical pops of pink neon — embodies many of the collective's postmodern ideals.
Sottsass's most-recognized designs appeared in the first Memphis collection, issued in 1981 — notably the multihued, angular Carlton room divider and Casablanca bookcase. As pieces on 1stDibs demonstrate, however, Sottsass is at his most imaginative and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.
It was as an artist that Ettore Sottsass was celebrated in his life, in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 2006, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art a year later. Even then Sottsass’s work prompted critical debate. And for a man whose greatest pleasure was in astonishing, delighting and ruffling feathers, perhaps there was no greater accolade. That the work remains so revolutionary and bold — that it breaks with convention so sharply it will never be considered mainstream — is a testament to his genius.