Guzzini Trolley

Guzzini is often mistakenly thought to be the name of a lighting designer active in the 1960s and 1970s. But in fact the label belongs to a lighting manufacturing company that was founded by six Guzzini brothers — Raimondo, Giovanni, Virgilio, Giuseppe, Adolfo and Giannunzio, who were inspired by the 1950 film Harvey starring James Stewart.

Compounding the historical record even further, it seems that the Guzzini company rebranded many times in the 20th century, going by, at various points, Harvey Creazioni, Harvey Guzzini, Guzzini, iGuzzini and Illuminazione Guzzini. Harvey Creazioni was originally founded in 1959 in Recanati (on the east-central coast of Italy) by Raimondo, focusing on the production of copper-plated decorative objects. Four years later, in June 1963, the six brothers joined together and established Harvey Creazioni di Guzzini, expanding production to include pendant lighting, sconces, table lamps and floor lamps.

The brothers employed architect-designer Luigi Massoni — who was introduced to the Guzzini brothers by leading plastic importer Maurizio Adreani — as head of design, branding, public relations and advertising. Famous Harvey Guzzini designs include Massoni and Luciano Buttura's Mushroom table lamp (1965) as well as the in-house designed Arc floor lamp (1968), Faro table lamp (1970) and Toledo table lamp (1973). Studio 6G, an interning design team, developed the collectible Clan table lamp (1968); and designers Ermanno Lampa and Sergio Brazzoli were responsible for the Nastro series (1970), Orione pendant (1970), Sirio table lamp (1970), Alba floor lamp (1973), Albanella table lamp (1973) and Alf series (1976). Around 1976, Harvey Guzzini ceased the production of copper-plated items to concentrate on lighting made almost exclusively from methacrylate plastic (acrylic). The company also dabbled in furniture production, collaborating with Yugoslavian furniture producer Meblo, located in Nova Gorica in present-day Slovenia.

In 1967–68, the company exhibited at Domus: Formes Italiennes in the Galeries Lafayette in Paris under the name Design House (DH), where the company featured Gio Ponti’s Media lamp. A retail outlet was opened in central Milan under the name Harvey Guzzini-DH in 1969, situated literally and figuratively among the best known Italian design houses. In 1974, the company rebranded once more as iGuzzini, adding Illuminazione in 1981, which still exists today with headquarters in Recanati, Italy.

Find a collection of vintage Guzzini furniture today on 1stDibs.

Arguably the world’s most ubiquitous man-made material, plastic has impacted nearly every industry. In contemporary spaces, new and vintage plastic furniture is quite popular and its use pairs well with a range of design styles.

From the Italian lighting artisans at Fontana Arte to venturesome Scandinavian modernists such as Verner Panton, who created groundbreaking interiors as much as he did seating — see his revolutionary Panton chair — to contemporary multidisciplinary artists like Faye Toogood, furniture designers have been pushing the boundaries of plastic forever.

When The Graduate's Mr. McGuire proclaimed, “There’s a great future in plastics,” it was more than a laugh line. The iconic quote is an allusion both to society’s reliance on and its love affair with plastic. Before the material became an integral part of our lives — used in everything from clothing to storage to beauty and beyond — people relied on earthly elements for manufacturing, a process as time-consuming as it was costly.

Soon after American inventor John Wesley Hyatt created celluloid, which could mimic luxury products like tortoiseshell and ivory, production hit fever pitch, and the floodgates opened for others to explore plastic’s full potential. The material altered the history of design — mid-century modern legends Charles and Ray Eames, Joe Colombo and Eero Saarinen regularly experimented with plastics in the development of tables and chairs, and today plastic furnishings and decorative objects are seen as often indoors as they are outside.

Find vintage plastic lounge chairs, outdoor furniture, lighting and more on 1stDibs.

The right vintage, new or antique tables can help make any space in your home stand out.

Over the years, the variety of tables available to us, as well as our specific needs for said tables, has broadened. Today, with all manner of these must-have furnishings differing in shape, material and style, any dining room table can shine just as brightly as the guests who gather around it.

Remember, when shopping for a dining table, it must fit your dining area, and you need to account for space around the table too — think outside the box, as an oval dining table may work for tighter spaces. Alternatively, if you’ve got the room, a Regency-style dining table can elevate any formal occasion at mealtime.

Innovative furniture makers and designers have also redefined what a table can be. Whether it’s an unconventional Ping-Pong table, a brass side table to display your treasured collectibles or a Louis Vuitton steamer trunk to add an air of nostalgia to your loft, your table can say a lot about you.

The visionary work of French designer Xavier Lavergne, for example, includes tables that draw on the forms of celestial bodies as often as they do aquatic creatures or fossils. Elsewhere, Italian architect Gae Aulenti, who looked to Roman architecture in crafting her stately Jumbo coffee table, created clever glass-topped mobile coffee tables that move on bicycle tires or sculpted wood wheels for Fontana Arte. 

Coffee and cocktail tables can serve as a room’s centerpiece with attention-grabbing details and colors. Glass varieties will keep your hardwood flooring and dazzling area rugs on display, while a marble or stone coffee table in a modern interior can showcase your prized art books and decorative objects. A unique vintage desk or writing table can bring sophistication and even a bit of spice to your work life. 

No matter your desired form or function, a quality table for your living space is a sound investment. On 1stDibs, browse a collection of vintage, new and antique bedside tables, mid-century end tables and more .