Pair of Leather B&B Italia Leather Lounge Chairs
About the Item
- Creator:Tobia Scarpa (Designer),B&B Italia (Cabinetmaker)
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 36 in (91.44 cm)Depth: 34 in (86.36 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Rockaway, NJ
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU88375456813
Tobia Scarpa
Widely recognized as superstars of postmodern Italian design, husband-and-wife team Afra and Tobia Scarpa (1937–2011; b. 1935) collaboratively created chairs, sofas and other furniture that work equally well in both traditional and cutting-edge environments.
Afra Bianchin and Tobia Scarpa met as architecture students at the Università Iuav di Venezia. In a class led by architect and furniture designer Franco Albini, they created their first collaborative piece, the Pigreco armchair, later produced with Gavina. After graduating in 1957, Tobia Scarpa worked for Murano glass company Venini & Co. before the couple opened a studio in Afra’s hometown, Montebelluna, in 1960. (Tobia, the son of famed glass artist and architect Carlo Scarpa, was born in Venice.)
Ranging from architecture and interior design to furniture and clothing, the Scarpas’ practice from its beginnings in the mid-1950s to the 21st century has included a diverse scope of projects combining new technology with thoughtful function and sculptural yet simple forms.
For Afra and Tobia, a close collaborative process was pivotal to the success of their designs. The duo was also prolific — they designed for the most influential European manufacturers, including B&B Italia, Cassina, Knoll and FLOS. With respect to the latter, Afra and Tobia were among the legendary Italian lighting maker’s earliest collaborators, and their pioneering designs for the brand included the Papillon lamp, one of the first fixtures to use halogen technology. Their most recognized designs include the Bastiano sofa (1962), the Vanessa bed (1959), the Coronado sofa (1966) and the Soriana seating collection (1970). Work on the Soriana sofa began in late 1969 for an early 1970 debut, and it feels as radical today as it did in its heyday.
Architecture was also a central part of Afra and Tobia’s practice, which spanned residential buildings and factories for Italian companies such as Benetton. Their commissions for the global fashion brand included numerous industrial projects, from textile plants to storefronts. By 1985, Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s work was celebrated in a 30-year retrospective at Center Four in Queens, New York. Looking around the 30,000-square-foot exhibition space, Afra joked to the New York Times, “Seeing all those things makes us feel very tired, and now we feel that maybe we worked too much.”
It was not too much for their legacy, as Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s work continues to inspire new generations. Scarpa designs are in collections at the Louvre, the Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The couple was awarded the Compasso d’Oro in 1970 for the Soriana armchair.
Find vintage Tobia Scarpa table lamps, sofas, dining chairs and other furniture today on 1stDibs.
B&B Italia
In 1966, Piero Ambrogio Busnelli cofounded C&B Italia, a modern Italian furniture manufacturer, with Cesare Cassina in northern Milan. From the outset, Busnelli and Cassina set about recruiting the most talented modernists in Italy to conceive of creative furnishings manufactured in modern ways. In the early 1970s, the company split, with Cassina founding his own eponymous firm and Busnelli taking leadership of what became B&B Italia.
For decades, Busnelli cultivated relationships with the world’s best design talent, resulting in furniture pieces that remain iconic today — be they Gaetano Pesce’s outwardly curvaceous Up seating (made for C&B, reintroduced by B&B) or tables from industrial designer Paolo Piva, each more sophisticated than the next in their geometrically complex steel-tube bases. B&B Italia earned four prestigious Compasso d’Oro design awards: in 1979 for Mario Bellini’s Le Bambole, in 1984 for the Sisamo wardrobe system by Studio Kairos, in 1987 for Antonio Citterio’s modular Sity sofa and, in 1989, the first award given to a manufacturing company itself.
Other notable names who designed for B&B Italia over the course of its 54-year history include Patricia Urquiola, Naoto Fukasawa, Zaha Hadid, Ettore Sottsass and Vincent Van Duysen, to name a very few. And while these names bring star power to the B&B brand, in many cases, it was B&B Italia who helped usher in their celebrity, fostering a wave of design talent on the world stage.
The company’s forward-thinking vision manifested in its own headquarters, too: In 1972, B&B Italia tapped architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers to design a steel-framed, postmodern-style home for the brand, whose crisscrossing metal exoskeleton is reminiscent of the pair’s Centre Pompidou in Paris, which was built at roughly the same time. Now, B&B Italia manages a contract division and outdoor section as well as its residential arm, and it also controls production for Maxalto, a brand spun out with furniture designs by Antonio Citterio.
At 1stDibs, find a range of vintage B&B Italia furniture — including sofas, cocktail tables and more.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Hardwick, NJ
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Beige Suede Leather Lounge Chair with Matching OttomanBy Knoll, B&B ItaliaLocated in Rockaway, NJVery nice Mid-Century Modern swivel lounge chair with matching foot stool. 25 x 20 x 38 - ottoman.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Suede
- Pair of Brown Tan Leather Lounge Chairs by CoachBy Coach, Milo BaughmanLocated in Rockaway, NJPair of Mid-Century Modern lounge club chairs by coach.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather
- Pair of Saporiti Italian Mid Century Modern Fan Back Two Tone Lounge Chairs MINTBy B&B Italia, Le Corbusier, Giorgio Saporiti, Poul KjærholmLocated in Rockaway, NJPair of Saporiti Italian Mid Century Modern Fan Back Two Tone Lounge Chairs MINT!Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Pair of Vladimir Kagan Nautilus Tan Leather Swivel Lounge ChairsBy Vladimir KaganLocated in Rockaway, NJPair of nicely "broken in" tan leather upholstery swivel chairs by Vladimir Kagan.Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather
- Pair of Verner Panton Tan Tufted Leather 123 Lounge ChairsBy Verner PantonLocated in Rockaway, NJPair of Mid-Century Modern tufted tan leather Verner Panton tongue shape lounge chairs.Category
20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Fabio Lenci Hyaline Adjustable MCM Lounge Chair Glass Black Leather 1970s MINT!By Mario Bellini, B&B Italia, Fabio Lenci, Milo Baughman, Pace CollectionLocated in Rockaway, NJItalian Mid-Century Modern super comfortable adjustable sling upholstery hyaline chair by Fabio Lenci, 1974.Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Glass
- Pair of 'Amanta' Leather Lounge Chairs by Mario Bellini for B&B ItaliaBy B&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in New York, NYA pair of 'Amanta' cognac brown leather and fiberglass lounge chairs, originally designed in Italy by Mario Bellini for C&B Italia in 1966. The design was extremely popular and in great demand, with a waitlist for eager purchasers. The 'Amanta' was produced as a modular piece so you can place the two together to form a small sofa or stand alone as lounge chairs. The flexibility was made possible by the strategically placed vertical slit in the backrest. With their original cognac brown leather upholstery that is wonderful vintage condition. The curved and molded shells that hold the cushions are made of dark chocolate brown fiberglass and rest upon chocolate brown fiberglass ball...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Fiberglass
- Pair of Lounge Chairs by Tobia Scarpa for the B&B ItaliaBy Tobia ScarpaLocated in Los Angeles, CAElegant and modern pair of large armchairs designed by Tobia Scarpa for the B&B Italia manufacture in 1974 The pair of armchairs is upholstered in a brown leather. The armchairs are ...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather
- Le Bambole Lounge Chair B&B ItaliaBy B&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in Budapest, HURobust, coffee-brown sponge and leather lounge chair with folding backrest and with a footrest. The Le Bambole lounge chair by Mario Bellini provides a feeling of deep comfort and re...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather
- Mario Bellini Le Bambole Lounge Chair and Ottoman, Pair, B&B ItaliaBy B&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in Raleigh, NC1970s Mario Bellini Bambole set newly upholstered, B&B Italia. A classic from the Italian designer with neutral patterned upholstery. Listed as a four piece set, 2 chairs, 2 pouf...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery
- Pair of 1970’s Leather Lounge Chairs by Kurt HvitsjöBy Tobia ScarpaLocated in Turners Falls, MAPair of 1970’s “Hannibal” lounge chairs by Kurt Hvitsjö for Isku. Leather with chrome frame. Front castors. Original Auburn leather is nicely worn. Finland NYC Delivery available fo...Category
20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Mario Bellini Bambole lounge chair B&B Italia 1972By B&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in Roosendaal, Noord BrabantIconic Bambole lounge chair and poof designed by Mario Bellini and manufactured by B&B Italia in 1972. The Le Bambole collection marked a breakthrough i...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsBouclé
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Rooms We Love: 11 Splendid Living Rooms
Common wisdom used to declare the kitchen the hub of the house. These days, the living room seems to have assumed the role of domestic focal point. Unlike the Victorian parlor, stiffly furnished and reserved for guests, today’s living room is a central place for reading, conversation and, well, living, with furnishings that lend themselves to both casual lounging and elegant entertaining.
Vincent Van Duysen Imbues Minimalism with Warmth
The Antwerp-based designer lends his unique touch to homes, boutiques and offices in Belgium, the United States and Germany, as well as furniture for B&B Italia and Molteni.