Italian Modern Carrara Marble Table Lamp Biagio by Tobia Scarpa for Flos, 1970s
About the Item
- Creator:Tobia Scarpa (Designer),Flos (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 14.18 in (36 cm)Width: 17.33 in (44 cm)Depth: 5.52 in (14 cm)
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Excellent conditions, it has 3 very small chips.
- Seller Location:MIlano, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4860232682262
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.
Flos
Imaginative lighting is a longtime hallmark of modern Italian design. Following in the footsteps of innovative companies such as Artemide and Arteluce, the company FLOS brought a fresh aesthetic philosophy to the Italian lighting field in the 1960s, one that would produce several of the iconic floor lamp, table lamp and pendant light designs of the era.
FLOS — Latin for “flower” — was founded in the northern town of Merano in 1962 by Cesare Cassina (of the famed Cassina furniture-making family) and Dino Gavina, a highly cultured businessman who believed that artistic ideas espoused in postwar Italy could inform commercial design. The two enlisted brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni as their first designers.
Even before FLOS was formally incorporated, the Castiglionis gave the firm one of its enduring successes with the Taraxacum pendant and associated designs made by spraying an elastic polymer on a metal armature. (George Nelson had pioneered the technique in the United States in the early 1950s.) For other designs, the brothers found inspiration in everyday objects. Suggestive of streetlights, their Arco floor lamp, with its chrome boom and ball-shaped shade sweeping out from a marble block base, has become a staple of modernist decors. Designing for FLOS since 1966, Tobia Scarpa has also been inspired by the commonplace. His folded-metal Foglio sconces resemble a shirt cuff; his carved marble Biagio table lamp looks like a jai alai basket.
In 1973, FLOS purchased Arteluce, the company founded in 1939 by Gino Sarfatti, and it continues to produce his designs. In recent decades, FLOS has contracted work from several noted designers, including Marcel Wanders and Jasper Morrison. As instantly recognizable as they are, many FLOS designs remain accessible. While FLOS lighting is the essence of modernity, its sleek, subtle designs can be used to strike a sculptural note in even traditional spaces.
Browse a broad range of FLOS lighting fixtures at 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Milan, Italy
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Italian Mid-Century White Metal Jucker Table Lamp by Tobia Scarpa for Flos, 1963By Tobia Scarpa, FlosLocated in MIlano, ITItalian mid-century white metal Jucker table lamp by Tobia Scarpa for Flos, 1963 Jucker adjustable table lamps in white metal. Produced by Flos in 1963 on a project by Tobia Scarpa. Tobia Scarpa it is an important Italian designer famous for the Soriana sofa, the africa chairs and more iconic lamps like the beautiful Biagio lamp...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Italian modern cocoon and metal Chandelier Nuvola by Tobia Scarpa for Flos 1970sBy Flos, Tobia ScarpaLocated in MIlano, ITItalian modern cocoon and metal Chandelier Nuvola by Tobia Scarpa for Flos, 1970s Large chandelier mod. Nuvola in cocoon. The internal structure, ...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Mid-Century Modern Table Lamp Mod. Walnut by Achille Castiglioni for Flos, 1970sBy Achille Castiglioni, FlosLocated in MIlano, ITMid-Century Modern table lamp mod. Walnut by Achille Castiglioni for Flos, 1970s Walnut lamp, with a rounded shape, the structure is in thick die-cast aluminum and painted in ocher ...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Italian modern red floor lamp Toio by Castiglioni for Flos, 1970sBy Achille Castiglioni, Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, FlosLocated in MIlano, ITRed floor lamp Toio by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for Flos, 1970s Floor lamp mod. Toio with indirect light diffuser. The structure is made up of a rectangular base in red p...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Italian modern applique Parter by Achille Castiglioni for Flos, 1970sBy Flos, Achille CastiglioniLocated in MIlano, ITItalian modern applique Parter by Achille Castiglioni for Flos, 1970s Wall sconce mod. Parter. The structure is in gunmetal gray painted metal with a glossy finish and is composed of...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Italian modern Table lamp Fluette by Giuliana Gramigna for Quattrifolio, 1970sBy Giuliana Gramigna, QuattrifolioLocated in MIlano, ITItalian modern Table lamp Fluette by Giuliana Gramigna for Quattrifolio, 1970s Fantastic and vintage table lamp mod. Fluette with double bulb and cylindrical lampshade in red fabric ...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- FLOS Biagio Table Lamp by Tobia ScarpaBy Flos, Tobia ScarpaLocated in Brooklyn, NYCarved seamlessly from a single piece of exquisite Carrara marble, the Biagio lamp by Tobia Scarpa has been a favorite since the design’s debut in 1968. A ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMarble
- Biagio Table Light by Tobia Scarpa for FLOSBy Flos, Tobia ScarpaLocated in Vancouver, BCDesigned by Tobia Scarpa in 1968. Table lamp providing direct light. Lamp body carved seamlessly from a single block of Carrara marble. Elegant and unique, this light is a sculptu...Category
Vintage 1960s European Table Lamps
MaterialsCarrara Marble
- Marble Biagio Table Lamp by Tobia Scarpa for Flos, 1968By Afra & Tobia Scarpa, FlosLocated in Lasne, BElamp completely in marble. Stamped flos on the inside. Wear due to time and age of the lamp.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMarble
- 'Biagio' Table Lamp by Afra and Tobia Scarpa for FlosBy Flos, Afra & Tobia ScarpaLocated in Los Angeles, CATable Lamp by Afra and Tobia Scarpa for Flos c.1970's Italy. The lamp features a sculpted white Carrara marble body with a curved stone shade and arched base. The light source is ins...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsCarrara Marble
- Biagio 282 Table Lamp by Afra and Tobia Scarpa for Flos, Italy 1968By Flos, Afra & Tobia ScarpaLocated in Roma, ITBiagio 282 table light is designed by Tobia Scarpa and Afra Bianchin Scarpa, 1968. Made by Flos, Milan H. 34 x 39 x 13.5 cm. Botticino marble. Mar...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Table Lamps
MaterialsMarble
- Italian Design Classic Biagio Lamp by Tobia Scarpa, 1960sBy Tobia Scarpa, FlosLocated in Renens, CHThe Biagio lamp is one of Tobia Scarpa’s masterpieces. It has been cut and sculpted by hand from solid Carrara marble, resulting in a seamless piece of des...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsCarrara Marble