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Fontana Arte Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Best known for its elegant and innovative vintage lighting fixtures, the Milan-based firm Fontana Arte pioneered one of the key features of 20th-century and contemporary Italian design: the union of artistry and industry wrought by partnerships between creative talents — chiefly architects — and entrepreneurial businesses. Fontana Arte is further distinguished by having had as artistic director, in succession, four of Italy’s most inventive modernist designers: Gio Ponti, Pietro Chiesa, French transplant Max Ingrand and Gae Aulenti.

The bread and butter of the glassmaking company that Luigi Fontana founded in 1881 was plate-glass panels for the construction industry. In 1930, Fontana met Ponti — then the artistic director of the Richard Ginori ceramics workshop and the editor of the influential magazine Domus — at a biannual design exhibition that became the precursor to today’s Milan Design Triennale, and the two hatched an idea for a furniture and housewares firm. Fontana Arte was incorporated in 1932 with Ponti as its chief of design. He contributed several lamps that remain among the company’s signature works, including the orb-atop-cone Bilia table lamp and the 0024 pendant — a stratified hanging sphere.

The following year, Fontana Arte partnered with the influential Milan studio glassmaker and retailer Pietro Chiesa, who took over as artistic director. Chiesa’s designs for lighting — as well as for tables and items including vases and ashtrays — express an appreciation for fluidity and simplicity of line, as seen in works such as his flute-shaped Luminator floor lamp and the 1932 Fontana table — an arched sheet of glass that is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

Six years after Chiesa’s 1948 death, the École des Beaux Arts–trained Max Ingrand took over as head of design at Fontana Arte. Ingrand brought a similarly expressive formal sensibility to wares such as lamps and mirrors, but he also had a masterful eye for the manipulation of glass surfaces — whether they be cut, frosted, acid-etched or sand-blasted. His classic design is the Fontana table lamp of 1954, which has a truncated cone shade and curved body, both of which are made of pure, chic white-frosted glass.

Following Ingrand, the often-audacious Italian architect Gae Aulenti served as the company’s artistic director from 1979 to 1996, and while she generally insisted that furnishings take second place aesthetically to architecture, she made an exception for Fontana Arte pieces such as the Tavolo con Ruote series of glass coffee and dining tables on wheels, bold lighting pieces such as the Parola series and the Giova, a combination flower vase and table lamp. As a key incubator of modern design under Aulenti’s tenure, Fontana Arte remained true to its long-held commitment — creating objects that have never been less than daring.

Find vintage Fontana Arte lighting fixtures such as pendants, table lamps and more on 1stDibs.

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Creator: Fontana Arte
Teso 2842 - Consolle - Clear Tempered Glass by Renzo Piano, FontanaArte
By Fontana Arte, Renzo Piano
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Renzo Piano made his design debut with a coordinated line of furnishing systems for FontanaArte, using only one material: glass, symbol of the company’s production history. A very fi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Fontana Arte Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Glass

Teso 2757/6 - Tall Bookcase - Clear Tempered Glass by Renzo Piano, FontanaArte
By Renzo Piano, Fontana Arte
Located in Beverly Hills, CA
Renzo Piano made his design debut with a coordinated line of furnishing systems for FontanaArte, using only one material: glass, symbol of the company’s production history. A very fi...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Fontana Arte Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Glass

Bathroom Mirror Cabinet by FontanaArte
By Fontana Arte
Located in IT
Rare Vintage Bathroom Furniture Mirrored Cabinet by FontanaArte with Lights. High blue side panels open and allow products to be arranged on small glass shelves. The blue mirror panels at the bottom, on the other hand, flip open and conceal electrical outlets and a toilet paper roll holder...
Category

Late 20th Century Fontana Arte Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Glass, Mirror

Stunning Italian Credenza with Fontana Arte Glass Elements, 1950s
By Fontana Arte
Located in New York, NY
Beautifully crafted credenza in Italian walnut with vertical glass slab supports and glass handles by Fontana Arte on the bookmatched burl doors with brass accents, Italian 1950s. Th...
Category

1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fontana Arte Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Brass

Paolo Buffa Vintage Wooden Furniture and Glass by Fontana Arte 'Attr.'
By Fontana Arte, Paolo Buffa
Located in Milano, IT
Splendid wooden wall cabinet attributed to the great designer Paolo Buffa in the 1950s, with Fontana Arte manufacture for the glass. The cabinet has a base supported by 6 legs in Bu...
Category

1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fontana Arte Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Brass

Fontana Arte Pietro Chiesa Rare 1940s Drawer Cabinet with Mirrored Glass Surface
By Fontana Arte, Pietro Chiesa
Located in Milan, IT
Wooden cabinet with seven drawers. Unique and elegant piece designed by Pietro Chiesa made by Fontana Arte, the iconic Italian design firm for artistic glasses. Surfaces covered in c...
Category

1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fontana Arte Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Crystal, Bronze

Teso Glass Console Designed by Renzo Piano in 1985 for Fontana Arte
By Fontana Arte, Renzo Piano
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Renzo Piano made his design debut with a coordinated line of furnishing systems for FontanaArte, using only one material: Glass, symbol of the company’s production history. Dimension...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Fontana Arte Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Glass

Teso Glass Bookcase Designed by Renzo Piano in 1985 for Fontana Arte
By Fontana Arte, Renzo Piano
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Renzo Piano made his design debut with a coordinated line of furnishing systems for Fontana Arte, using only one material: glass, symbol of the company’s production history. Dimensio...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Italian Fontana Arte Case Pieces and Storage Cabinets

Materials

Glass

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Fontana Arte case pieces and storage cabinets for sale on 1stDibs.

Fontana Arte case pieces and storage cabinets are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of glass and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Fontana Arte case pieces and storage cabinets, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 6 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 4 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original case pieces and storage cabinets by Fontana Arte were created in the mid-century modern style in italy during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider case pieces and storage cabinets by Piero Fornasetti, Roberto Monsani, and Le Corbusier. Prices for Fontana Arte case pieces and storage cabinets can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $4,993 and can go as high as $66,843, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $13,058.

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