Fornasetti On Sale
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic, Porcelain
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
Porcelain
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Abstract Sculptures
Brass
People Also Browsed
2010s Mexican Brutalist Contemporary Art
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Scandinavian Modern Wall Lights an...
Metal
1920s Modern Photography
Silver Gelatin
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
20th Century Italian Hollywood Regency Chandeliers and Pendants
Brass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Gold Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Benches
Fabric, Velvet, Lacquer, Wood
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tray Tables
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Aluminum
Vintage 1970s French Space Age Architectural Elements
Metal, Aluminum
2010s Canadian Post-Modern Chairs
Rattan, Maple
2010s American Classical Greek Figurative Sculptures
Resin
Vintage 1950s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Vases
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Convex Mirrors
Glass, Wood
Recent Sales
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Ceramic
Vintage 1960s Italian Tray Tables
Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Ceramic
Vintage 1960s Italian Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Vintage 1960s Italian Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Porcelain
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1980s Italian Center Tables
Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass, Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Table Lamps
Vintage 1960s Italian Ceramics
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Early 2000s Italian Modern Porcelain
Ceramic, Porcelain
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Porcelain
Vintage 1950s Italian Modern Vases
Gold Leaf
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Jewelry Boxes
Porcelain
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
Velvet, Wood
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
Ceramic
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Umbrella Stands
Brass, Steel
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Ceramic
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Altuglas
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Neoclassical Revival Chairs
Metal
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Paintings
Other
1990s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Plastic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Contemporary Art
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Boxes
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Paperweights
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-P...
Porcelain
Vintage 1980s Italian Panelling
Plexiglass
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Serving Pieces
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Historical Memorabilia
Zinc
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Gold
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Quilts and Blankets
Silk
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Quilts and Blankets
Silk
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Brass
Vintage 1950s Italian Porcelain
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Serving Bowls
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Porcelain
Gold
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass, Metal
20th Century Italian Tray Tables
Metal
Vintage 1950s Italian Decorative Art
Glass, Porcelain, Wood
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
Porcelain
Fornasetti On Sale For Sale on 1stDibs
How Much is a Fornasetti On Sale?
Fornasetti for sale on 1stDibs
The Italian artist, illustrator and furniture maker Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest and most imaginative design talents of the 20th century. He crafted an inimitable decorative style from a personal vocabulary of images that included birds, butterflies, hot-air balloons, architecture and — most frequently, and in some 500 variations — an enigmatic woman’s face based on that of the 19th-century opera singer Lina Cavalieri. Fornasetti used transfer prints of these images, rendered in the style of engravings, to decorate an endless variety of furnishings and housewares that ranged from chairs, tables and desks to dinner plates, lamps and umbrella stands. His work is archly clever, often surreal and always fun.
Fornasetti was born in Milan, the son of an accountant, and he lived his entire life in the city. He showed artistic talent as a child and enrolled at Milan’s Brera Academy of Fine Art in 1930, but was expelled after two years for consistently failing to follow his professors’ orders. A group of his hand-painted silk scarves, displayed in the 1933 Triennale di Milano, caught the eye of the architect and designer Gio Ponti, who, in the 1940s, became Fornasetti’s collaborator and patron. Beginning in the early 1950s, they created a striking a series of desks, bureaus and secretaries that pair Ponti’s signature angular forms with Fornasetti’s decorative motifs — lighthearted arrangements of flowers and birds on some pieces, austere architectural imagery on others. The two worked together on numerous commissions for interiors, though their greatest project has been lost: the first-class lounges and restaurants of the luxury ocean liner Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956.
Fornasetti furnishings occupy an unusual and compelling niche in the decorative arts: they are odd yet pack a serious punch. They act, essentially, as functional sculpture. A large Fornasetti piece such as a cabinet or a desk can change the character of an entire room; his smaller works have the aesthetic power of a vase of flowers, providing a bright and alluring decorative note. The chimerical, fish-nor-fowl nature of Fornasetti’s work may be its greatest strength. It stands on its own. Bringing the Fornasetti look into the future is Barnaba Fornasetti, who took the reins of the company after his father's death.