Venini Ratrih Floor Lamp by Ettore Sottsass
About the Item
- Creator:Venini (Manufacturer),Ettore Sottsass (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 170 in (431.8 cm)Diameter: 46 in (116.84 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:7-8 weeks
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Brooklyn, NY
- Reference Number:
Ettore Sottsass
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.
Venini
Beginning in the 1930s — and throughout the postwar years especially — Venini & Co. played a leading role in the revival of Italy’s high-end glass industry, pairing innovative modernist designers with the skilled artisans in the centuries-old glass workshops on the Venetian island of Murano. While the company’s founder, Paolo Venini (1895–1959), was himself a highly talented glassware designer, his true genius was to invite forward-thinking Italian and international designers to Murano’s hallowed workshops to create Venini pieces — among them Giò Ponti, Massimo Vignelli, Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala, Thomas Stearnsof the United States and Fulvio Bianconi.
Paolo Venini trained and practiced as a lawyer for a time, though his family had been involved with glassmaking for generations. After initially buying a share in a Venetian glass firm, he took over the company as his own in 1925, and under his direction it produced mainly classical Baroque designs. In 1932, he hired the young Carlo Scarpa— who would later distinguish himself as an architect — as his lead designer. Scarpa, working in concert with practiced glass artisans, completely modernized Venini, introducing simple, pared-down forms; bright primary colors; and bold patterns such as stripes, banding and abstract compositions that utilized cross sections of murrine (glass rods).
Paolo Venini’s best designs are thought to be his two-color Clessidre hourglasses, produced from 1957 onward, and the Fazzoletto (“handkerchief”) vase, designed with Bianconi in 1949. Bianconi’s masterworks are considered by many to be his Pezzato works — colorful vases with patterns that resemble those of a patchwork quilt. Other noteworthy and highly collectible vintage Venini works include Ponti’s dual-tone stoppered bottles (circa 1948); rare glass sculptures from the Doge series by Stearns, the first American to design for the firm; Vignelli’s striped lanterns of the 1960s; the Occhi vases with eyelet-shaped patterns by Tobia Scarpa (son of Carlo); and, with their almost zen purity, the Bolle (“bubbles”) bottles designed by Wirkkala in 1968.
With these works — and many others by some of the creative titans of the 20th and 21st century — Venini has produced one of the truly great bodies of work in modern design.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Murano Italy, Italy
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Venini Darpanah Table Lamp by Ettore SottsassBy Ettore Sottsass, VeniniLocated in Brooklyn, NYVenini Darpanah table lamp by Ettore Sottsass. Numbered Edition for year Year of Manufacture: 1994-2017 Metal White Painted Color: Milk-White/Sapphire/Pink Measurements: Ø 12....Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBlown Glass
- Venini Kiritam Table Lamp by Ettore SottsassBy Venini, Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYVenini Kiritam table lamp by Ettore Sottsass. Numbered Edition for year Marble Base Color: Milk-White/Aquamarine Measurements: Ø 15.35"" H 18.89"" 1 x max E27 10W LED + 3 x ma...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsGlass
- Venini Bhusanam Table Lamp in Aquamarine by Ettore SottsassBy Venini, Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYVenini Bhusanam table lamp in Aquamarine by Ettore Sottsass. Numbered Edition for year Year of Manufacture: 1994 - 2017 Metal: Blue Painted Color: Aquamarine Measurements: Ø 1...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsGlass
- Venini Nopuram Table Lamp in Red by Ettore SottsassBy Venini, Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYVenini Nopuram table lamp in red by Ettore Sottsass. Numbered edition for year Year of manufacture: 1994-2017 Marble base Color: Red Measurements: Ø 15.74", H 25.98" 1 x max ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsGlass
- Venini Firenze Flush Light in Crystal & Sapphire by Ettore SottsassBy Ettore Sottsass, VeniniLocated in Brooklyn, NYFirenze flush light in handmade blown glass with decorative elements in opaline and transparent glass and white painted metal finishes. Fun and colorful ceiling light...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Flush Mount
MaterialsArt Glass
- Venini Puzzle Vase in Coral & Aquamarine Glass by Ettore SottsassBy Venini, Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYVenini Puzzle glass in coral/aquamarine by Ettore Sottsass. Numbered edition for year. Hand-blown glass. Color: Coral/Aquamarine Technique: Opal Dimensions: Ø 27 cm, H 40 cm Ye...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Glass
MaterialsBlown Glass
- Italian Modern Murano Glass Ratrih Floor Lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Venini 1994By Ettore Sottsass, VeniniLocated in MIlano, ITItalian modern steel, marble and Murano glass Ratrih floor lamp by Ettore Sottsass for Venini in 1994. Ratrih model floor lamp, with round marble base...Category
1990s Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMarble, Steel
- 21st Century Ettore Sottsass Collection Ratrih Floor Lamp in Black/Milk-WhiteBy Venini, Ettore SottsassLocated in murano, ITLight clad in Milk White glass, then surrounded by Black glass and metal. This work is a tribute to the night. Elegant, mysterious. Night is its name, in ancient Sanskrit: ratri?. Ra...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Floor Lamps
MaterialsGlass
- Italian Modern Glass Floor Lamp Allarnisam by Ettore Sottsass for Venini, 1990sBy Ettore SottsassLocated in MIlano, ITItalian modern Glass Floor lamp Allarnisam by Ettore Sottsass for Venini, 1990s Floor lamp mod. Allarnisam with diffuser composed of 4 cylind...Category
1990s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Erco Floor Lamp Designed by Ettore SottsassBy Erco, Ettore SottsassLocated in Offenburg, Baden WurthembergErco floor lamp, designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1973. A wonderful example of the pre-postmodern lighting is this rare floor lamp, designed by e...Category
Vintage 1970s German Post-Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsSteel
- "Treetops" Floor Lamp by Ettore Sottsass, 1981By Memphis Milano, Ettore SottsassLocated in Skokie, ILEttore Sottsass "Treetops" floor lamp for Memphis Milano, Italy, 1981 Additional Information: Materials: Enameled steel, enameled aluminum, aluminum Dimensions: 76 3/4” H x 29 1...Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsSteel, Aluminum
- Ettore Sottsass ID-S Edition Floor LampBy Ettore SottsassLocated in Dronten, NLIn 1987, while working for Zumtobel, the Milan-based design studio Sottsass Associati developed a floor lamp which caused quite a stir both because of its design and its lighting tec...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsSteel