$15,900
H 35.44 in W 16.54 in D 17.72 in
Gaetano Pesce The Faces Chair from Nobody's Perfect series by Zerodisegno 2005
By Gaetano Pesce, Zerodisegno
Located in Cascina, Pisa
architectural spaces and reflect deep contemplation of the modern era. Notable works include his iconic La Mamma
Resin, Plastic
$10,600
H 21.86 in W 15.16 in D 13.39 in
Gaetano Pesce Nobody's Perfect Small Chair in Red Resin by Zerodisegno 2000s
By Gaetano Pesce, Zerodisegno
Located in Cascina, Pisa
spaces and reflect deep contemplation of the modern era. Notable works include his iconic La Mamma chair
Resin
$10,600 / set
H 31.89 in W 16.93 in D 20.48 in
Gaetano Pesce Set of Four Multicoloured Umbrella Chairs by Zerodisegno 1990s
By Gaetano Pesce, Zerodisegno
Located in Cascina, Pisa
include his iconic La Mamma chair (1969), inspired by a prehistoric fertility votive figure, and the
Aluminum
$8,109 / set
H 40.56 in W 47.25 in D 51.19 in
MINT Black UP5 La Big Mamma UP 2000 Chair & UP6 Ottoman Gaetano Pesce B&B Italia
By B&B Italia, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Basel, BS
"La Mamma," it is distinguished by its organic, sculptural form that harmoniously merges comfort with
Fabric, Upholstery, Foam
$4,888
H 40.56 in W 47.25 in D 51.19 in
UP5 La Mamma UP 2000 Chair & UP6 Ball Ottoman by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia
By B&B Italia, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Izegem, VWV
Designed by Gaetano Pesce in 1969, right from the onset the Up series has been one of the most outstanding expressions of design with its expressive shapes upholstered with elastic f...
Fabric, Foam, Latex, Polyester
$2,650Sale Price|30% Off
H 11.75 in W 12.25 in D 11.5 in
'Babel' Resin Wine Bucket by Gaetano Pesce for Fish Design Italy, 1990s, Signed
By Gaetano Pesce, Fish Design
Located in Los Angeles, CA
modernity, exemplified by the La Mamma chair (1969), which evokes a prehistoric fertility figure, and the
Resin
$4,475 / set
H 15.16 in W 15.75 in D 15.75 in
Gaetano Pesce Set of Three Nesting Play Tables in Resin by Fish Design 1999
By Fish Design, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Cascina, Pisa
include his iconic La Mamma chair (1969), inspired by a prehistoric fertility votive figure, and the
Steel
$5,889 / set
H 40.56 in W 47.25 in D 51.19 in
UP5_6 armchair from the UP 2000 series, by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia
By Gaetano Pesce, B&B Italia
Located in Langemark-Poelkapelle, BE
furniture. Known as the "Big Mama Chair" or "La Mamma", this piece stands out for its organic, sculptural
Fabric, Foam
$5,889
H 70.87 in W 24.02 in D 15.75 in
Gaetano Pesce Luigi (o mi amate voi?) 902 Shelf in Lacquered Wood by Bernini 80s
By Bernini, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Cascina, Pisa
include his iconic La Mamma chair (1969), inspired by a prehistoric fertility votive figure, and the
Metal
$1,920Sale Price|20% Off
H 13 in Dm 11 in
'Amazonia' Resin Vase by Gaetano Pesce for Fish Design Italy, Serie 2007, Signed
By Fish Design, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Los Angeles, CA
creations reflect a profound contemplation of modernity, exemplified by the La Mamma chair (1969), which
Resin
Unavailable
H 40.56 in W 47.25 in D 51.19 in
Gaetano Pesce Up Armchair + Ottoman, “La Mamma” B&B Italia
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in PEGO, Alicante
One of a kind lounge chair by Gaetano Pesce, the Up armchair and ottoman or “La Mamma” chair for B
Fabric
La Mamma Up 5 Lounge Chair & Ottoman for B&B Italia
By Gaetano Pesce, B&B Italia
Located in Los Angeles, CA
La Mamma Up 5 camel lounge chair by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia, c.2000s, Italy. The curvaceous
Foam, Upholstery
La Mamma Up 5 Bouclé Lounge Chair & Ottoman for B&B Italia
By Gaetano Pesce, B&B Italia
Located in Los Angeles, CA
La Mamma Up 5 powder blue bouclé lounge chair by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia, c.2000s, Italy. The
Bouclé, Foam
La Mamma Up 5 Bouclé Lounge Chair & Ottoman for B&B Italia
By B&B Italia, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Los Angeles, CA
La Mamma Up 5 teddy bear brown bouclé lounge chair by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia, c.2000s, Italy
Bouclé, Foam
Sold
H 40 in W 44 in D 44 in
Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia La Mamma UP5 and UP6 Lounge Chair and Ottoman
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia UP5 and UP6 Lounge Chair and Ottoman. Labeled on bottom. Originally
Fabric, Foam
Sold
H 29.93 in W 27.17 in D 21.66 in
post-modern broadway chair by gaetano pesce for bernini, 1993, set of 4
By Gaetano Pesce, Bernini
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
pliable in form. the most famous work from this series is the ‚la mamma‘ chair – feminine, sensual
Steel
Sold
H 40 in W 42 in D 48 in
B&B Italia 'La Mamma' Up 5/6 Lounge Chair & Ottoman, Red Stripe by Gaetano Pesce
By Gaetano Pesce, B&B Italia
Located in Toronto, CA
comment on women’s rights is still hotly debated but UP5/6 (affectionately known as 'La Mamma’, 'Blow-Up
Fabric, Foam
Sold
H 40.56 in W 47.25 in D 51.19 in
La Mamma set, armchair and ottoman UP5 and 6 by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia
By Gaetano Pesce, B&B Italia
Located in Lyon, FR
Stunning La Mamma set, 2000 series, made of the UP5 lounge chair and its UP6 ottoman. An iconic
Velvet, Foam
Gaetano Pesce Up5 Chair for B&B Italia, 1969
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Las Vegas, NV
Legendary “La Mamma” Up5 lounge chair from iconoclastic designer and artist Gaetano Pesce for B&B
Foam
Triple Play Side Table by Gaetano Pesce for Fish Design, Nr. 11/2019
By Gaetano Pesce, Fish Design
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
„la mamma“ the connected chair and stool could be seen as a mother-and-child-combination – or as a
Metal
Sold
H 40 in W 42 in D 48 in
B&B Italia 'La Mamma' Up 5/6 Lounge Chair&Ottoman, Green Stripe by Gaetano Pesce
By B&B Italia, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Toronto, CA
comment on women’s rights is still hotly debated but UP5/6 (affectionately known as 'La Mamma’, 'Blow-Up
Fabric, Foam
Triple Play Dining Table by Gaetano Pesce for Fish Design, Nr. 1/2016
By Fish Design, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
„la mamma“ the connected chair and stool could be seen as a mother-and-child-combination – or as a
Metal
Sold
H 40.56 in W 47.25 in D 51.19 in
Vintage La Mamma Up5 Bouclé Lounge Chair by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italian, 1960s
By B&B Italia, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Wesseling, DE
Absolute eye-catcher. Large designer lounge chair "La Mamma" Up 5 with matching ottoman by Gaetano
Bouclé
Sold
H 40.16 in W 46.86 in D 47.25 in
Gaetano Pesce Up 5 and Up 6 2000 Series Lounge Chair and Ottoman 'La Mamma'
By B&B Italia, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Zagreb, HR
with different names, from "La Mamma", "Big Mama" to "Blow-Up". The chair and the ottoman are made
Fabric, Foam
Frank Oelke double bed Pedus, 1970s
By Frank Oelke
Located in Padova, IT
Pedus double bed in solid varnished wood frame covered in resin and glossy lacquered with metal structure resting on adjustable steel and brass feets. Complete with two custom-made m...
Resin, Wood
$1,155Sale Price / item|30% Off
H 16.1 in Dm 11.5 in
'Plissé White Edition' Pleated Textile Table Lamp by Folkform for Örsjö
By Örsjö Industri AB
Located in Glendale, CA
'Plissé White Edition' pleated textile table lamp by Folkform for Örsjö. This unique table lamp was awarded “Lighting of the Year 2022” by Residence Magazine Sweden, who called it “...
Textile
Gaetano Pesce Chador Table Lamp From The Open Sky Series
By Fish Design, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Kansas City, MO
Multicolored Chador Table Lamp From The Open Sky Series designed by Gaetano Pesce. Made of Resin, very sturdy. The Open Sky series was produced in a very limited edition for Fish De...
Resin
Amuneal's Brass Pantry Cabinetry
By Amuneal
Located in New York, NY
Amuneal's Brass Pantry Cabinetry, part of our metal Kitchen Collection, is designed as a feature element for any space. The three doors on the upper cabinets are fabricated with a kn...
Brass
Tavolino serie Triple Play, Gaetano Pesce, Fish Design 2018
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Rivoli, IT
Bellissimo tavolino della serie Triple Play di Gaetano Pesce, produzione Fish Design, n. 19/2018
Resin
$6,595Sale Price|30% Off
H 35.44 in W 42.52 in D 36.62 in
Sit Down armchair designed by Gaetano Pesce for Cassina 1975
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Arezzo, Italy
Sit Down armchair designed by Gaetano Pesce for Cassina in 1975. Steel frame, molded plywood, cold-injected polyurethane, quilted polyester wadding fabric. Good condition, chair has ...
Steel
2 parts sofa in stainless steel by Studio Glustin
By Glustin Creation
Located in Saint-Ouen (PARIS), FR
2 parts sofa in stainless steel with seating upholstered with a fabric by Dédar. Creation by Studio Glustin. France, 2023.
Stainless Steel
Rare Gaetano Pesce Resin Lamp
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Austin, TX
Rare post modern resin lamp by collectible artist Gaetano Pesce from his Olo series. "Olo" translates to "feeling" in English. Transformer and bulb modified for US use. Lights at eye...
Resin
$44,850
H 29 in W 77 in D 37 in
Gaetano Pesce, Nobody's Perfect Zerodesegno Dining Table, Multicolor Resin
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Kansas City, MO
Rare and exceptional Gaetano Pesce Nobody's Perfect Zerodesegno dining table. Tubular resin legs support a sturdy resin grid top with a resin "table cloth" top. A sturdy and function...
Resin
$4,700 / item
H 48.04 in W 40.95 in D 35.44 in
Original Shadow Armchair by Gaetano Pesce for Meritalia, Postmodern Icon
By Michel Ducaroy, Gaetano Pesce, Meritalia, Ligne Roset
Located in Grand Cayman, KY
Shadow armchair by Gaetano Pesce for Meritalia is a highly collectible iconic masterpiece of Post Modern Design. The chair "deconstructed". Designed and made in limited numbers in 2...
Leather, Upholstery, Latex, Resin
$16,762Sale Price / item|20% Off
H 77.17 in W 74.81 in D 15.75 in
'Carlton' Room Divider and Bookcase by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano
Located in London, GB
Probably the most iconic of all Ettore Sottsass' designs, the colourful Carlton is half room divider, half bookcase and full size sculptural marvel. Designed in 1981, the Carlton for...
Laminate, Wood
$16,843
H 35.44 in W 16.54 in D 16.15 in
"Nobody's Perfect" Chair by Gaetano Pesce X Etro for Zerodisegno, Italy 2003
By Gaetano Pesce, Zerodisegno
Located in Hellouw, NL
Gaetano Pesce was an influential Italian designer and architect, and is celebrated for his unique approach that merges art with functionality, challenging conventional aesthetics. Hi...
Resin
$6,115 / set
H 40.56 in W 47.25 in D 51.19 in
"Big Mama" Up Chair By Gaetano Pesce For B&B Italia, Italy, circa 2000
By B&B Italia, Gaetano Pesce
Located in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent
It was 1968 when Gaetano Pesce began experimenting at his Paris atelier with vacuum-packing the hippest material of the moment: polyurethane. Soon he’d developed a gravity-defying mo...
Fabric, PVC
"Big Mama" Armchair & Ottoman by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in Brussels, BE
"Big Mama" Armchair & Ottoman by Gaetano Pesce for B&B Italia
Fabric
$12,956
H 35.44 in W 20.48 in D 19.69 in
Gaetano Pesce Armchair - Nobody's Perfect - Collection , Zerodisegno, 2000's
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in PARIS, FR
Nobody's perfect chair by Gaetano Pesce, Zerodisegno / Italy, 2003 Mark: Zerodisegno / Gaetano Pesce, 2003 Signed and dated 19 05 03 UNIQUE PIECE.
Resin
Greene Street Chair by Gaetano Pesce
By Gaetano Pesce
Located in New York, NY
Designed by Italian architect Gaetano Pesce and produced by Vitra in 1984, the Greene Street Chair is a striking example of postmodern design. Named after Pesce’s New York studio, ea...
Steel
Gaetano Pesce was of a generation of Italian architects who in the early 1960s rebelled against the industrial perfection of modernism by conceiving new furniture and objects that were at once expressive and eccentric in form; or you might say they were more like art than functionalist design.
Born in the picturesque coastal Italian city of La Spezia in 1939, Pesce was a precocious talent who could have forged a career as an artist but opted instead to go to Venice to study architecture because, as he has said, it was “the most complex of all the arts.” Rather than having new worlds opened to him at design school, however, Pesce found the rationalist curriculum oppressive in its insistence on standardization and prescribed materials and technologies.
Pesce wanted to explore the latest of both materials and technologies to create objects and buildings never before imagined, with what he called “personalities” that spoke to the issues of the day. He was keen to examine ways to diversify mass production so that each manufactured work could be distinct.
In 1964, Pesce met Cesare Cassina, of the forward-looking furniture company C&B Italia in Milan (now known as B&B Italia), for whom he would create many important designs, beginning with a collection of what he called “transformational furniture” — two chairs and a loveseat — made entirely out of high-density polyurethane foam. To make the pieces easy to ship and cost-efficient, he proposed that after being covered in a stretch jersey, they be put in a vacuum, then heat-sealed flat between vinyl sheets. Once the foam was removed from its packaging, the piece returned to its original shape — hence, the name Up for the series, which debuted in 1969.
In addition to these pieces, Pesce proposed for the collection something he referred to as an “anti-armchair,” which took the shape of a reclining fertility goddess, the iconic Donna.
Producing the piece's complex form turned out to be a technical challenge. Bayer, the foam’s manufacturer, deemed it impossible to accomplish. Pesce persisted and came up with a new procedure, demonstrating not only the designer’s key role in researching the nature and potential of new materials but also his vital importance in “doubting rules.” The Up chair and accompanying ottoman were born, and they were revolutionary in more ways than one.
In the early 1970s, Pesce began exploring one of his key concepts, the idea of the industrial originals. Employing a mold without air holes, and adding a blood-red dye to the polyurethane, he cast a bookcase that resembled a demolished wall, the rough edges of the shelves and posts resulting from fissures in the material made by trapped air.
Through his research into polyurethane, Pesce figured out a way to make a loveseat and armchair using only a simple wood frame and strong canvas covering as a mold. Since the fabric developed random folds during the injection process, the pieces were similar but not identical. Cassina named the suite of furnishings Sit Down and introduced it in 1975. By experimenting with felt soaked in polyurethane and resin, Pesce conceived I Feltri, another collection of armchairs introduced by Cassina in 1987.
Pesce went on to live a life that defied expectation and convention and along the way became one of the most seminal figures in art and design.
Find vintage Gaetano Pesce chairs, sofas, vases and more on 1stDibs.