Spectacular Set of Six Large Piero Fornasetti and Giostra di Frutta Plates
View Similar Items
Spectacular Set of Six Large Piero Fornasetti and Giostra di Frutta Plates
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Diameter: 10.25 in (26.04 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 6
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Downingtown, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: NY79791stDibs: LU86101262478
Fornasetti
The Italian artist, illustrator and furniture maker Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest and most imaginative design talents of the 20th century. He crafted an inimitable decorative style from a personal vocabulary of images that included birds, butterflies, hot-air balloons, architecture and — most frequently, and in some 500 variations — an enigmatic woman’s face based on that of the 19th-century opera singer Lina Cavalieri. Fornasetti used transfer prints of these images, rendered in the style of engravings, to decorate an endless variety of furnishings and housewares that ranged from chairs, tables and desks to dinner plates, lamps and umbrella stands. His work is archly clever, often surreal and always fun.
Fornasetti was born in Milan, the son of an accountant, and he lived his entire life in the city. He showed artistic talent as a child and enrolled at Milan’s Brera Academy of Fine Art in 1930, but was expelled after two years for consistently failing to follow his professors’ orders. A group of his hand-painted silk scarves, displayed in the 1933 Triennale di Milano, caught the eye of the architect and designer Gio Ponti, who, in the 1940s, became Fornasetti’s collaborator and patron. Beginning in the early 1950s, they created a striking a series of desks, bureaus and secretaries that pair Ponti’s signature angular forms with Fornasetti’s decorative motifs — lighthearted arrangements of flowers and birds on some pieces, austere architectural imagery on others. The two worked together on numerous commissions for interiors, though their greatest project has been lost: the first-class lounges and restaurants of the luxury ocean liner Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956.
Fornasetti furnishings occupy an unusual and compelling niche in the decorative arts: they are odd yet pack a serious punch. They act, essentially, as functional sculpture. A large Fornasetti piece such as a cabinet or a desk can change the character of an entire room; his smaller works have the aesthetic power of a vase of flowers, providing a bright and alluring decorative note. The chimerical, fish-nor-fowl nature of Fornasetti’s work may be its greatest strength. It stands on its own. Bringing the Fornasetti look into the future is Barnaba Fornasetti, who took the reins of the company after his father's death.
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Sezioni Di Frutta Dessert Plate, No 4 for TiffanyBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Porcelain Sezioni Di Frutta Dessert Plate, No 4 in Series, Made for Tiffany, 1960s The tromp l"oeil porcelain plate depicts a section o...Category
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plates, Giostra di Frutta (Merry-go-Round of Fruit)By Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Porcelain Plates, Giostra di Frutta, Set of Six, Numbered 1 through 6, 1955-65 The pattern "Giostra di Frutta" translates as a Merry-Go-Round of Fruit. The plate is...Category
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsCeramic
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Sezioni Di Frutta Desert Plate, No 12 for TiffanyBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Porcelain Sezioni Di Frutta Dessert Plate, No 12 for Tiffany, Circa 1970 The tromp l"oeil porcelain plate depicts a section of fruit, a pear, on a white backgr...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plate, Giastra Di Frutta # 6By Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti porcelain plate, Giastra di Frutta # 6, 1955-1965 The pattern "Giostra di Frutta" translates as a Merry-Go-Round...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Pottery Plate, Sezioni Di Frutta, #6, 1960sBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Pottery Plate, Sezioni Di Frutta, #6 1960s. The stunning Piero Fornasetti Pottery Plate depicts a cut red pepper from the Sezioni Di Frutta series. Mark: Hand and ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPottery
- Chelsea Porcelain Set of Six Botanical Dessert Plates, 18th CenturyBy Chelsea PorcelainLocated in Downingtown, PAThe rare Chelsea or Chelsea Derby Porcelain plates are painted in the center with a floral bouquet panel surrounded by a mazarine-blue border and fine gilt highlights of dentil work...Category
Antique Mid-18th Century English Georgian Serving Pieces
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti "Nummus" Green Porcelain Plate Mid-Century ModernBy FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThis vintage Fornasetti plate is numbered three and is from the collection of the Roman coin series. All hallmarked on the back. This is a ver...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Classical Roman Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Rare Vintage Matador & Bull Porcelain Dinner Plates Set of SixBy FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThese wonderful hard to find and hard to come by complete set of RARE wonderful bullfight black and white vintage Mid-Century Modern porcelain dinner plates are the genius work and i...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
$4,640 Sale Price / set20% Off - Piero Fornasetti Porcelain "Recipe" Plates Mid-Century Modern Set of ThreeBy FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThese delightful hallmarked set of three Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti recipe plates are amusing and unusual. One is for stuffed crown roast or frankfurters, the other ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Classical Roman Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Set of Six Porcelain Plates with Hunting Trophies for ClaudiaBy Sofina Boutique KitzbühelLocated in Kitzbuhel, ATSet of six porcelain plates. Hands painted with 6 different detailed painted trophies heads. Rimmed with a fine 24-carat gold line and with an additional green one. Handmade in Bava...Category
2010s German Black Forest Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Tema E Variazioni Porcelain Plate #78By FornasettiLocated in Los Angeles, CAVintage Piero Fornasetti "Tema e Variazioni" porcelain plate depicting the face of the famous opera singer Lina Cavalieri, no.78 / made in Milano Italy circa 1960. Original mark on t...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Set of 12 Custom Commissioned Plates by Piero Fornasetti for Fleming Joffe LtdBy FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLA rare collection of 12 custom commissioned plates made by Piero Fornasetti for New York small leather goods company, Fleming Joffe Ltd. in the 196...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain