Architect and designer Cesare Lacca is renowned for the modernist furniture he created during the 1950s. Made with materials like teak, glass and brass, his work continues to command great interest from mid-century modern collectors. His pieces have recently found their way onto some of the 21st century’s most trendy television and movie sets.
Lacca was born in Naples, Italy, in 1929. Like many Italian designers in the 20th century, he moved to Milan after World War II to launch his career. At the age of 20, he was selected by a group of American curators for inclusion in the 1951 landmark exhibition “Italy at Work: Her Renaissance in Design Today” at the Art Institute of Chicago. It showcased Italian designers who had embraced modernist principles and rejuvenated traditional Italian crafts, like Carlo Mollino, Franco Albini and Gio Ponti.
Lacca designed a dizzying array of tea carts and serving trolleys across his career, including magazine racks and coffee tables. Lacca’s most well-known piece is a tea cart — most commonly used as a bar cart — that Cassina manufactured. It features beautifully sculpted beech, cedar, teak and walnut with brass details, a glass tabletop and a removable glass tray.
This Lacca cart was featured as Don Draper’s office bar in his Manhattan advertising agency on several episodes of the wildly popular television show Mad Men, reinvigorating the interest of collectors. Several other Lacca pieces have been part of the set decorations in the television series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the movie Being the Ricardos.
On 1stDibs, find Cesare Lacca tables, racks and stands, seating and more.
Mid-Century Modern Bar Cart with Tray by Cesare Lacca - Italy
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Girona, Girona
Splendid bar cart, stained beech wood, French polish. Polished brass and glass. Removable tray and bottles containers. Pivotant wheels. Design: Cesare Lacca Italy, circa 1950.
Brass
Moebius Coffee Table by Cesare Lacca
By Cesare Lacca
Located in New York, NY
Mid Century "Moebius" Coffee Table by Cesare Lacca in ebonized mahogany, brass and glass, c. 1950s. The table refers to the famous ribbon created by the German mathematician Ferdinan...
Brass
$2,362Sale Price|20% Off
Rare Mid-Century Cesare Lacca Serving Bar Cart, Italy, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Catania, CT
Original vintage condition with normal trace of age and use with patina on the brass for this Italian bar cart designed by Cesare Lacca and produced during the 50s. Glasses with no c...
Brass
$2,400 / set
Pair of Cesare Lacca Brass Candelabra
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Hanover, MA
Pair of solid brass Italian 1950's candelabra by architect-designer, Cesare Lacca. Each holds four candle tapers. Look closely at the phenomenally skillful brass work using solid bra...
Brass
Liquor trolley by Cesare Lacca - brass and rosewood
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Antwerp, BE
Well shaped Italian liquor trolley/serving cart by Cesare Lacca. Marvellous Italian bar trolley in brass and burgundy red lacquered wood. This stunning piece was designed by Cesare ...
Brass
Cesare Lacca Consolle Brass Marbre Iron 1950 Italy
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Milano, IT
Consolle Cesare Lacca.
Brass
Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table by Cesare Lacca, Mirrored Etched Glass - Italy
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Girona, Girona
Coffee table, solid and polished brass structure, mirrored (oxidation and losses) and etched glass with flowers decoration. Thick original glass on top. Design: Cesare Lacca It...
Brass
Vintage Coffee Table by Cesare Lacca, Italy, Mid-20th Century
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Roma, IT
Coffee table is an original design furniture realized by Cesare Lacca in the mid-20th Century. Beautiful small table, Italian design in wood and glass top. Born in Naples in 1929, Italian architect-designer Cesare Lacca created modernist furniture...
Glass, Wood
Cesare Lacca Bar Trolley with Movable Tray Wood Brass, 1950, Italy
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Milano, IT
Cesare Lacca bar trolley with movable tray wood brass, 1950, Italy.
Wood
Pair of velvet Easy Chairs by Cesare Lacca, circa 1950
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Berlin, DE
A pair of very rare easy chairs. Raspberry velvet cover, fringes, in original condition. Front legs are made of brass, back legs are made of walnut wood.
Brass
$806Sale Price|20% Off
Ash cart with pull-out trays by Cesare Lacca 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Torino, IT
Ash cart with pull-out trays by designer Cesare Lacca. Refined trolley with slender and very light structure with sinuous shapes made of ash wood with brass details. The trolley ha...
Brass
1950s Mid Century Walnut and Brass Folding Magazine Rack by Cesare Lacca
By Cesare Lacca
Located in North Hollywood, CA
This exquisite Italian Mid-Century Modern magazine rack captures the refined elegance and architectural ingenuity of 1950s Italian design, designed by Cesare Lacca. Crafted from warm...
Brass
Mid-Century Modern Walnut and Brass Trolley by Cesare Lacca for Cassina, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Brussels, BE
Mid-Century Modern Walnut and Brass Trolley by Cesare Lacca for Cassina, 1950s
Wood
Small Mid-Century Modern Bar Cart & Magazine Rack by Cesare Lacca - Italy
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Girona, Girona
Small bar cart and magazine rack, stained solid mahogany, French polish. Removable tray, polished brass hardware and wheels. Design: Cesare Lacca It...
Brass