Gae Aulenti Jumbo Coffee Table for Knoll in Black Marquina Marble, Italy 1970s
View Similar Items
Gae Aulenti Jumbo Coffee Table for Knoll in Black Marquina Marble, Italy 1970s
About the Item
- Creator:Gae Aulenti (Designer),Knoll (Manufacturer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 14.57 in (37 cm)Width: 48.43 in (123 cm)Depth: 48.43 in (123 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Almelo, NL
- Reference Number:Seller: 50221stDibs: LU3696336532152
Jumbo Coffee Table
The Jumbo coffee table was more than just a piece of furniture to Gae Aulenti (1927–2012). As a participant in Italy’s Neo-Liberty movement in the late 1950s, she rejected the omnipresent Bauhaus modernist aesthetic and instead chose to create pieces that exemplified her taste for classical design with a modern edge.
The Jumbo coffee table, with its opulent marble top and sculpted column legs, epitomized Aulenti's approach. Weighing nearly 450 pounds, the table is unquestionably heavy yet it still maintains a graceful air that hearkens back to her adoration for classic Roman architecture. This is a seductive characteristic of her late-career architectural projects, too, such as her conversion of a train station to the Musée d’Orsay — home to one of the world's most important Impressionist art collections — as well as the renovation of Venice’s Palazzo Grassi into an exhibition space.
In 1954, decades before she transformed a Paris landmark transit hub into a museum, Aulenti graduated from the Polytechnic University of Milan as one of only two women in her class. She became known for her industrial design work and as a vocal advocate for rejecting postwar Italian architecture. Gianni Agnelli, the chairman of Fiat, was impressed with her passion and commissioned her to design his company’s showrooms in Turin, Zurich and Brussels. Aulenti’s work for Fiat yielded another design opportunity, this time, at Knoll, where she designed the company’s showrooms in Boston and New York City.
In 1972, Knoll began to manufacture the Jumbo coffee table, which Aulenti initially designed in 1965. The company made her table available in three marble finishes: Calacatta, Carrara and Nero Marquina.
Gae Aulenti
The Italian architect and designer Gae Aulenti will forever be best remembered for her work with museums, in particular her 1980–86 renovation of a Beaux Arts Paris train station to create the galleries of the Musée d’Orsay. Aulenti — whose first name, short for Gaetana, is pronounced “guy” — should also be recalled for her tough intellectual spirit and for working steadily when few women found successful architectural careers in postwar Italy.
After she graduated from the Milan Polytechic in 1954, Aulenti opened an architectural office. She also joined the staff of the progressive architectural magazine Casabella, whose editorial line was that the establishment, orthodox modernism of Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus, had outlived it usefulness. When their movement for fresh approaches to architecture and design received a sympathetic hearing, Aulenti found patrons — most prominently Gianni Agnelli, of Fiat, who later employed her to renovate the Palazzo Grassi in Venice for use as an arts exhibition space.
Commissions for showrooms and other corporate spaces brought Aulenti to furniture design. She felt that furniture should never dominate a room. Her chairs and sofas — low-slung, with rounded enameled metal frames and ample seats — and tables, particularly her 1972 marble Jumbo coffee table for Knoll, project solidity and sturdiness. In lighting design, however, Aulenti is bravura.
Each work has a marvelous sculptural presence. Pieces such as her Pipistrello table lamp and Quadrifoglio pendant are a perfect marriage of organically shaped glass and high-tech fixtures. Others have a futuristic elegance — and some even have a touch of personality. Aulenti’s Pileino and La Ruspa table lamps each look almost like little robots. Her lighting pieces are an artful grace note in the career of a woman who believed in strength.
Find vintage Gae Aulenti armchairs, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Gae Aulenti for Knoll International "Orsay" Armchairs, 1970sBy Gae AulentiLocated in Almelo, NL"Orsay" armchairs by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International, Italy 1970s These "Orsay" armchairs were designed by Gae Aulenti and p...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSteel
- Gae Aulenti for Vistosi Murano Glass Model Glicine Lamp, Italy 1970sBy Gae Aulenti, VistosiLocated in Almelo, NLGae Aulenti for vistosi murano glass model glicine lamp, Italy 1970s. Glicene De Terra Murrine large table or floor Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Vistosi. Manufacturing Italians from th...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Angelo Mangiarotti for Skipper Black Marquina Marble "Eros" Console, Italy 1970sBy Angelo Mangiarotti, SkipperLocated in Almelo, NLAngelo Mangiarotti for skipper black Marquina marble "Eros" Console, Italy, 1970s This console table is an extraordinary piece from Angelo Mangiarotti's 'Eros' series for Skipper, c...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Console Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Angelo Mangiarotti for Skipper Black Marquina Marble "Eros" Console, Italy 1970sBy Skipper, Angelo MangiarottiLocated in Almelo, NLAngelo Mangiarotti for skipper black Marquina marble "Eros" Console, Italy, 1970s This console table is a remarkable piece from Angelo Mangiarotti's 'Eros' series for Skipper, cre...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Console Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Post-Modern Travertine Side/Coffee Table, Italy, 1970sLocated in Almelo, NLThis beautiful post-modern travertine side - coffee table, circa 1970s, has beautiful graining and pentagonal top. This sculptural travertine side table...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Side Tables
MaterialsTravertine
- Italian Post-Modern Travertine Side, Coffee Table, 1970sLocated in Almelo, NLModern Roche Bobois Style Travertine Side or End Table, Italy 1970s This beautiful post-modern travertine side coffee table, circa the 1970s, has beautiful graining and a pentagonal top. This sculptural travertine side table...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Side Tables
MaterialsTravertine
- Gae Aulenti Jumbo Coffee Table for Knoll in Nero Marquina MarbleBy Gae Aulenti, KnollLocated in Culver City, CAA stunning and iconic piece of modernist design, Gae Aulenti's Jumbo table was inspired by the modernist design principles of the 1960s, which emphasized simplicity, functionality, and the use of new materials. Aulenti was known for her innovative use of materials and her ability to combine traditional and modern design elements in her work. For the Jumbo table, she wanted to create a piece of furniture that was both elegant and functional, and that would serve as a centerpiece in any room. The table's large Size and geometric forms are also reminiscent of the Minimalist art movement of the 1960s, which focused on the use of simple geometric shapes and the absence of ornamentation. The Jumbo table designed by Gae Aulenti was originally produced by the Italian furniture manufacturer Gavina in the 1960s. The Jumbo table was one of the most famous designs produced by Gavina during that time, along with other iconic pieces like the Soriana armchair designed by Tobia and Afra Scarpa. After Gavina went bankrupt in the 1980s, the rights to produce and distribute the Jumbo table were acquired by Knoll International, which began producing the table for the American market. Zanotta, another Italian furniture manufacturer, also currently produces the Jumbo table for the European market. This specific coffee table is indeed a Knoll table and has the original Knoll stickers on the leg. This table is in the nero marquina marble which is a type of black marble that comes from the La Facciata quarry near the town of Marquina, in the Basque Country region of Spain. Nero Marquina marble is known for its deep, rich black color and distinctive white veining. It has been used in a number of famous buildings...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Gae Aulenti Jumbo coffee table black marble Knoll International Italy 1965By Gae Aulenti, KnollLocated in Etten-Leur, NLImpressive and early edition 'Jumbo' coffee table designed by Gae Aulenti and manufactured by Knoll International, Italy 1965. This example was made in gorgeous black Marquina marble...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Gae Aulenti for Knoll Made of Black Marble Italian Square Coffee Table "Jumbo"By Knoll, Gae AulentiLocated in Ibiza, SpainJumbo coffee table designed by Gae Aulenti (Italy, 1927-1972) for Knoll. Made in Marquina marble. Gae Aulenti (1927-2012) was one of the few Italian women to rise to prominence in a...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Center Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Gae Aulenti for Knoll 'Jumbo' Carrara Marble Coffee Table, Italy, circa 1964By Gae Aulenti, KnollLocated in New York, NYThe 'Jumbo' Carrara marble coffee table by the famed female Italian architect Gae Aulenti, (Italy, 1927-2012) made for Knoll. Literature: Gramigna, Giuliana. Repertorio Dell'Arredo Domestico 1950-2000 Allemandi: Torino, 2003, p. 111. Size: 14 1/2" high x 44 3/4" square just table top x 67" square total The iconic design constitutes a spectacular and grand square slab of Carrara marble with a total of six pieces including the sculpted and canted corner legs; It is one of the first tables where marble, a material removed for years from the world of furniture, makes its reappearance where the material in itself has a striking and expressive aesthetic and not used as a decorative element but used constructively according to its technological characteristics. One of Aulenti's most significant designs, an impressive and grand, yet minimalist and bold addition to any home interior. Gae Aulenti (born December 4, 1927, Palazzolo dello Stella, Italy–died December 31, 2012, Milan, Italy). Gae (or Gai) Aulenti was a prominent postwar Italian designer and architect who lent her fluid approach to media and material to some of the most important architectural and interior designs of the late 20th century. Aulenti attended Politecnico di Milano in the mid 1950's and established her design practice in the same city shortly after graduation. She rose to prominence while serving as the art director for Casabella, a leading avant-garde architectural journal of the era. It was during these early years that Aulenti’s unique design philosophy emerged, one that centered on the ultimate freedom of the designer from the limitations of practice to a singular medium. Rather than selecting one style and imposing it upon a space, Gae Aulenti believed instead that the space and its inhabitants should inform the design around them. What resulted was a body of work that spanned all realms. From smaller furnishings...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsCarrara Marble
- Jumbo marble coffee table by Gae Aulenti for Knoll InternationalBy Gae Aulenti, KnollLocated in London, GBThe statement Jumbo coffee table by Gae Aulenti for Knoll International. With its oversized proportions and signature design, this classic piece is in excellent vintage condition. G...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsCarrara Marble
$11,226 Sale Price20% Off - “Jumbo” Coffee Table by Gae Aulenti for Knoll, 1960sBy Gae Aulenti, KnollLocated in Renens, CHGae Aulenti, an Italian architect active during the post-war period has designed buildings, interiors, furniture and lamps during her career, many of them well-known such as the Musé...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble