Unique Stool by Ettore Sottsass
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Unique Stool by Ettore Sottsass
About the Item
- Creator:Ettore Sottsass (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 18 in (45.72 cm)Diameter: 13 in (33.02 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Early 1980s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: U1105208091553
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.
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- Kartell Calice Stool in Red by Ettore SottsassBy Kartell, Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYThe Calice vase is included in the "Kartell goes Sottsass - A Tribute to Memphis" collection, launched in homage to the movement founded by design guru Ettore...Category
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- Kartell Colonna Stool in Red by Ettore SottsassBy Kartell, Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYThe Colonna stool is included in the Kartell goes Sottsass, a tribute to Memphis collection, launched in 2015 in homage to the movement founded by design...Category
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- Kartell Pilastro Stool in Pink by Ettore SottsassBy Ettore Sottsass, KartellLocated in Brooklyn, NYThe Pilastro stool is part of the Kartell goes Sottsass, a tribute to Memphis collection, launched in 2015 in homage to design guru Ettore Sottsass....Category
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- Kartell Pilastro Stool in Violet by Ettore SottsassBy Kartell, Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYThe Pilastro stool is part of the Kartell goes Sottsass - A Tribute to Memphis collection, launched in 2015 in homage to design guru Ettore Sottsass. Pilastro, stands out for its arc...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools
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- Kartell Calice Stool in Violet by Ettore SottsassBy Kartell, Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYThe Calice vase is included in the "Kartell goes Sottsass - A Tribute to Memphis" collection, launched in homage to the movement founded by design guru Ettore...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Stools
MaterialsPlastic