Chad Teapot, by Matteo Thun from Memphis Milano
About the Item
- Creator:
- Dimensions:Height: 11.82 in (30 cm)Width: 9.45 in (24 cm)Depth: 4.34 in (11 cm)
- Style:Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Contemporary
- Production Type:New & Custom(Current Production)
- Estimated Production Time:8-9 weeks
- Condition:
- Seller Location:La Morra, IT
- Reference Number:
Memphis Group
To many people, postmodern design is synonymous with the Memphis Group. This Italian collaborative created the most radical and attention-getting designs of the period, upending most of the accepted standards of how furniture should look.
The Memphis story begins in 1980, when Ettore Sottsass, then a beacon of Italian postmodernism, tapped a coterie of younger designers to develop a collection for the Milan Furniture Fair the next year, determined that all the new furniture they were then seeing was boring. Their mission: Boldly reject the stark minimalism of the 1970s and shatter the rules of form and function. (Sottsass’s Ultrafragola mirror, designed in 1970, embodied many of what would become the collective’s postmodern ideals.)
The group decided to design, produce and market their own collection, one that wouldn’t be restricted by concerns like functionality and so-called good taste. Its debut, at Milan’s 1981 Salone del Mobile, drew thousands of viewers and caused a major stir in design circles.
So as a record of Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile” played on repeat, they took their name from the song, devised their marketing strategy and plotted the postmodern look that would come to define the decade of excess — primary colors, blown-up proportions, playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art. A high-low mix of materials also helped define Memphis, as evidenced by Javier Mariscal’s pastel serving trays, which feature laminate veneer — a material previously used only in kitchens — as well as Shiro Kuramata’s Nara and Kyoto tables made from colored glass-infused terrazzo.
An image of Sottsass posing with his collaborators in a conversation pit shaped like a boxing ring appeared in magazines all over the world, and Karl Lagerfield furnished his Monte Carlo penthouse entirely in Memphis furniture. Meanwhile, members like Andrea Branzi, Aldo Cibic, Michele de Lucchi, Nathalie du Pasquier, Kuramata, Paola Navone, Peter Shire, George Sowden, Sottsass and his wife, journalist Barbara Radice, went on to enjoy fruitful careers.
Some people think of the Milan-based collective as the design equivalent to Patrick Nagel’s kitschy screenprints, but for others Memphis represents what made the early 1980s so great: freedom of expression, dizzying patterns and off-the-wall colors.
Eventually, the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990s minimalism, and Memphis fell out of fashion. Sottsass left the group in 1985, and by 1987, it had disbanded. Yet decades later, Memphis is back and can be traced to today’s most exciting designers.
“As someone who was born in the 1980s, Memphis at times feels like the grown-up, artsy version of the toys I used to play with,” says Shaun Kasperbauer, cofounder of the Brooklyn studio Souda. “It feels a little nostalgic, but at the same time it seems like an aesthetic that’s perfectly suited to an internet age — loud, colorful and utilizing forms that are graphic and often a little unexpected.”
Find a collection of vintage Memphis Group seating, tables, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Memphis Milano
To many people, postmodern design is synonymous with the Memphis Group. This Italian collaborative created the most radical and attention-getting designs of the period, upending most of the accepted standards of how furniture should look. Today, the Memphis Milano brand, which is managed by Alberto Bianchi Albrici, still produces designs created by the group between 1981 and 1988.
The Memphis story begins in 1980, when Ettore Sottsass, then a beacon of Italian postmodernism, tapped a coterie of younger designers to develop a collection for the Milan Furniture Fair the next year, determined that all the new furniture they were then seeing was boring. Their mission: Boldly reject the stark minimalism of the 1970s and shatter the rules of form and function. (Sottsass’s Ultrafragola mirror, designed in 1970, embodied many of what would become the collective’s postmodern ideals.)
The group decided to design, produce and market their own collection, one that wouldn’t be restricted by concerns like functionality and so-called good taste. Its debut, at Milan’s 1981 Salone del Mobile, drew thousands of viewers and caused a major stir in design circles.
So as a record of Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile” played on repeat, they took their name from the song, devised their marketing strategy and plotted the postmodern look that would come to define the decade of excess — primary colors, blown-up proportions, playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art. A high-low mix of materials also helped define Memphis, as evidenced by Javier Mariscal’s pastel serving trays, which feature laminate veneer — a material previously used only in kitchens — as well as Shiro Kuramata’s Nara and Kyoto tables made from colored glass-infused terrazzo.
An image of Sottsass posing with his collaborators in a conversation pit shaped like a boxing ring appeared in magazines all over the world, and Karl Lagerfield furnished his Monte Carlo penthouse entirely in Memphis furniture. Meanwhile, members like Andrea Branzi, Aldo Cibic, Michele de Lucchi, Nathalie du Pasquier, Kuramata, Paola Navone, Peter Shire, George Sowden, Sottsass and his wife, journalist Barbara Radice, went on to enjoy fruitful careers.
Some people think of the Milan-based collective as the design equivalent to Patrick Nagel’s kitschy screenprints, but for others Memphis represents what made the early 1980s so great: freedom of expression, dizzying patterns and off-the-wall colors.
Eventually, the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990s minimalism, and Memphis fell out of fashion. Sottsass left the group in 1985, and by 1987, it had disbanded. Yet decades later, Memphis is back and can be traced to today’s most exciting designers.
“As someone who was born in the 1980s, Memphis at times feels like the grown-up, artsy version of the toys I used to play with,” says Shaun Kasperbauer, cofounder of the Brooklyn studio Souda. “It feels a little nostalgic, but at the same time it seems like an aesthetic that’s perfectly suited to an internet age — loud, colorful and utilizing forms that are graphic and often a little unexpected.”
Find a collection of Memphis Milano seating, tables, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: La Morra, Italy
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Kariba Fruit Bowl, by Matteo Thun from Memphis MilanoBy Matteo Thun, Memphis Milano, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Kariba fruit bowl was originally designed by Matteo Thun in 1982 for Memphis. Born 1952 in Bolzano, Italy. Matteo Thun studies under Oskar Kokoschka at the Salzburg Academy of A...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Serving Bowls
MaterialsPorcelain
- Titicaca Porcelain Vase, by Matteo Thun from Memphis MilanoBy Matteo Thun, Memphis Milano, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Titicaca porcelain vase was originally designed by Matteo Thun in 1982, winks an eye to the largest lake in South America, its design follows a line of experimentation with a dis...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
MaterialsPorcelain
- Volga White Vase, by Matteo Thun from Memphis MilanoBy Matteo Thun, Memphis Milano, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoVolga Vase for one flower in decorated white porcelain, was originally designed in 1983 by Matteo Thun for Memphis Milano. Born 1952 in Bolzano, Italy. Matteo Thun studies under Os...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
MaterialsPorcelain
- Garda White Porcelain Amphora, by Matteo Thun from Memphis MilanoBy Memphis Milano, Memphis Group, Matteo ThunLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Garda White Porcelain Amphora was originally designed by Matteo Thun in 1982 for Memphis Milano. Born 1952 in Bolzano, Italy. Matteo Thun studies under Oskar Kokoschka at the Sa...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Jars
MaterialsPorcelain
- Colorado Ceramic Teapot, by Marco Zanini from Memphis MilanoBy Memphis Milano, Memphis Group, Marco ZaniniLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Colorado teapot in ceramic was originally designed by Marco Zanini in 1983. Marco Zanini was born in Trento in 1954. He graduated in architecture ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
MaterialsCeramic
- Anchorage Silver Plated Brass Teapot, by Peter Shire from Memphis MilanoBy Peter Shire, Memphis MilanoLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe anchorage teapot, was originally designed by Peter Shire in 1982. The Teapot is in brass with plated silver, and is also available in solid 925 silver. Prices may vary for the st...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
MaterialsBrass, Silver
- CHAD Teapot, Designed by Matteo Thun in 1982. For the collection Memphis Milano.By Memphis Milano, Memphis Group, Matteo ThunLocated in Beirut, LBThe Chad teapot (1981) disrupts the habitual characteristics of the object, thanks to a circular form with a hole in the middle. Matteo Thun wagers on white for a series of objects ...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Tea Sets
MaterialsPorcelain
- Nefertiti Teapot Matteo Thun for Memphis-Milano Original, 1980sBy Memphis Group, Matteo ThunLocated in Shibuya-ku, TokyoVintage original 1980s Nefertiti tea pot. Red is vintage color which is no longer production now. There is signature on bottom. Designed by Matteo Thun for Memphis Milano.Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Ceramics
MaterialsCeramic
- white modern Matteo Thun Fantasia Teapot, Memphis style 1980sBy Matteo ThunLocated in Antwerpen, AntwerpMatteo Thun was one of the co-founders of the Memphis group in 1981. He worked together with many different companies such as Bieffeplast, Swatch and Tiffany. This porcelain coffee / tea pot he designed for Arzberg, Germany in the 1980s. Thun describes it as - New balances. Familiar objects for the coffee with geometric shapes and unusual proportions. - The design was part of the Milan furniture fair in 1989. An exhibition underlining the consumer need of emotion, form and function. For this fair the sugarbowl of this collection has been built in an oversize scale. The tea pot stands...Category
Vintage 1980s European Modern Tea Sets
MaterialsCeramic, Porcelain
- Matteo Thun Memphis Milano Hors d'oeuvre SetBy Matteo Thun, Memphis Milano, Memphis GroupLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLA Memphis style porcelain tray set for hors d'oeuvres, designed by Matteo Thun in 1982 for the Memphis group. The set comprises the 'Manitoba' tray, 'Michigan' oil holder, 'Erie' sal...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsPorcelain
- Matteo Thun Memphis Milano Pair of 'Onega' Cocktail CupsBy Memphis Milano, Memphis Group, Matteo ThunLocated in Fort Lauderdale, FLA pair of white porcelain 'Onega' cocktail cups, designed by Matteo Thun in 1982 for the Memphis group. Memphis Milano formed in the 1980s as a response to the rather formulaic de...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Ceramics
MaterialsPorcelain
- Matteo Thun Whimsical Memphis Tea PotBy Matteo ThunLocated in New York, NYTea Pot “Columbina Superba” Designed for Alessio Sarri, Sesto Fiorentino Printed to underside “MTH 020”. Object # 3174 Literature: Barbara Radice, Memphis, Munich, 1988, p. 165 (...Category
20th Century Italian Ceramics
MaterialsCeramic