Arturo Pani Game Tables
Arturo Pani has been called the Jean Royère of Mexico. Like the adored French master of the mid-20th century, Pani won an upper-class clientele who appreciated the vivacity and exuberance he brought to interiors. His specialty was using new materials to reinterpret traditional stylings — the sensuous curves and arabesques of the Rococo; stately neoclassical motifs — for a modern context. Pani's work is a thing apart: at once theatrical and distinguished, playful and grand.
Pani was born to splendid settings. His father was Mexico’s ambassador to France, and both Pani and his brother Mario, a noted architect of the International style, would study at the prestigious École des Beaux Arts in Paris. Pani made his name in the late 1930s by designing lavish interiors that belied the austere facade of his brother’s new Hotel Reforma in Mexico City. Mexico’s affluent class welcomed Pani’s technique for juxtaposing Mario’s sleek modernist architectural envelope with voluptuous decor. His style became known as the “Acapulco look” in the 1930s, when Pani became the blossoming Pacific resort’s decorator of choice to the jet set. Pani’s own Acapulco villa would become a favorite backdrop for the society photographer Slim Aarons.
Though Pani frequently created furniture along the strict, geometric lines associated with mid-century modernism — and did, on occasion, produce pieces with wildly flowing futuristic lines — his signature designs were those that offered an idiosyncratic, spare-yet-sumptuous take on historical forms.
Pani’s favorite material was wrought iron, usually gilded. With it, he produced tables with elaborate sheaf-of-wheat bases, or scrolling baroque supports; chairs with frames made of iron rods bent to suggest the sinuous seatbacks and cabriole legs of Louis XV pieces; or — jumping a stylistic generation forward — designs with Louis XVI elements such as arrows and chevrons. Pani’s work has again become chic. As you will see on these pages, like few others, Arturo Pani had a true sense of drama. Virtually everything he designed is a showstopper.
Find vintage Arturo Pani coffee tables, armchairs, side tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
20th Century Mexican Mid-Century Modern Arturo Pani Game Tables
Onyx, Marble
21st Century and Contemporary American Arturo Pani Game Tables
Birdseye Maple, Oak, Walnut
Late 20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Arturo Pani Game Tables
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Arturo Pani Game Tables
Walnut
1970s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Game Tables
Brass, Copper, Nickel
1990s American Mid-Century Modern Arturo Pani Game Tables
Glass, Suede, Wood
20th Century Regency Revival Arturo Pani Game Tables
Brass
1980s American Hollywood Regency Vintage Arturo Pani Game Tables
Leather, Wood
1860s English Louis Philippe Antique Arturo Pani Game Tables
Kingwood
19th Century Swedish Gustavian Antique Arturo Pani Game Tables
Cherry, Nutwood
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Game Tables
Wood, Goatskin
1970s American Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Game Tables
Goatskin, Leather, Bakelite, Wood
20th Century American Chippendale Arturo Pani Game Tables
Leather, Walnut, Burl
1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Game Tables
Onyx, Gold Leaf
1960s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Arturo Pani Game Tables
Brass, Bronze
