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.
Serving Bar Cart by Cesare Lacca in Wood, Brass and Glass, Italy, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Rome, IT
Serving bar cart in wood and brass details composed of two removable glass trays by the Italian designer Cesare Lacca, 1950s.
Metal, Brass
Two Trays Bar Cart by Cesare Lacca, Italy 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Brussels, BE
Two trays bar cart by Cesare Lacca, Italy 1950s.
Wood
$1,812Sale Price|20% Off
Mid-Century Modern Brass and Glass Bar Cart by Cesare Lacca, Italy, 1950s.
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Catania, CT
This brass bar or service cart, designed by Cesare Lacca and produced in Italy in the 1950s, is in excellent vintage condition. It shows typical signs of age and use, consistent with...
Brass
$1,152Sale Price|20% Off
H 26.78 in W 36.62 in D 18.51 in
Mid-Century Wooden Bar Cart by Cesare Lacca, Italy, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Catania, CT
Sophisticated Italian bar cart designed by Cesare Lacca, crafted in the 1950s. The structure is made of beautifully shaped wood, showcasing Lacca’s signature organic lines and elegan...
Glass, Wood
Midcentury Teak Bar Cart by Cesare Lacca, Italy, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Saarbruecken, DE
Midcentury bar cart by Cesare Lacca, Italy, 1950s. Frame ebonized, tabletop teak wood. Restored surface. New glass top.
Teak
Cesare Lacca, Bar Cart, Wood, Glass, Brass, Italy, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in High Point, NC
A wood, brass and glass bar cart designed by Cesare Lacca, Italy, c. 1950s. Minor imperfections to glass. Wear consistent with age and use. Overall Dimensions (inches): 25.65"H x ...
Brass
Vintage Brass Bar Cart by Cesare Lacca, Italy, 1950s.
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Catania, CT
This brass bar or service cart, designed by Cesare Lacca and produced in Italy in the 1950s, is in very good vintage condition and shows typical signs of age and use, consistent with...
Brass
$3,928
H 29.53 in W 32.29 in D 18.51 in
Italian Bar Cart, 1950s, by Cesare Lacca, Sculptural Wood, Glass, gilded brass
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Vigonza, Padua
Elegant Italian mid-century bar cart by Cesare Lacca, produced in the 1950s. The trolley features a sculptural structure in dark lacquered wood with the distinctive organic lines ass...
Crystal, Brass
Mid-Century Modern Bar Cart by Cesare Lacca, Walnut & Glass, Italy
By Cesare Lacca, Cassina
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A vintage Mid-Century Modern Italian bar cart made of hand crafted polished Walnut, designed by Cesare Lacca and produced by Cassina, enhanced by detailed wood carvings, in good cond...
Metal, Chrome
$2,774
H 28.75 in W 17.72 in D 29.14 in
Cesare Lacca Folding Bar Cart in Brass, Beech and Smoked Glass, Italy, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca, (After) Gio Ponti
Located in Roma, IT
Marvelous and very rare Mid-Century folding bar cart in brass, beech wood, and smoked glass. This stylish serving trolley was designed by Cesare Lacca and produced in Italy during th...
Brass
Cesare Lacca, Bar Cart, Wood, Glass, Metal, Italy, 1950s
Located in High Point, NC
A wood, metal and glass bar cart designed by Cesare Lacca, Italy, c. 1950s. Wear consistent with age and use, including natural cracking of lower shelf top surface. Removable servi...
Metal
$1,756Sale Price|20% Off
H 31.5 in W 19.69 in D 24.41 in
Midcentury Cesare Lacca Wood Italian Bar Cart with Serving Trays, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Roma, IT
Fantastic mid century wood bar trolley. It was produced by Cesare Lacca in Italy during 1950s. This wonderful piece comes with two glass removable trays and an ergonomic bottle rack. The lines of this piece make it perfect for a midcentury-style dining room or bar. Born in Naples in 1929, Italian architect-designer Cesare Lacca created modernist furniture and metalwork throughout the 1950s. Though details of his personal life and professional training remain lost to history, there are sufficient surviving primary sources that document his many elegant designs in brasswork for which he is the best know and which fetch high prices from collectors. Like many Italian designers in the 20th century, Lacca moved to Milan after World War II to launch his career. Before he was even 21 years old, his work was selected by a group of American curators for inclusion in the landmark exhibition Italy at Work: Her Renaissance in Design Today that toured 12 US museums between 1950 and 1953—the first major exhibition of Italian design outside of Italy. The exhibition showcased the best and brightest of Italian designers who had embraced modernist principles and rejuvenated traditional Italian crafts, like Carlo Mollino , Franco Albini, and Gio Ponti In the exhibition catalogue, curator Meyric R. Roger’s spotlights Lacca's expert achievements in brass, noting “the variety and quality of his creations,” which “place him high among the architect-designers leading the current [Modernist] movement." Rogers adds, "The quality of his work...provide[s] all the decorative effectiveness needed without strain or exaggeration”. Lacca designed a great many tea carts and serving trolleys in his career—which make up a large proportion of what is available on the vintage market today—as well as magazine racks and coffee tables. Lacca’s most iconic tea cart was manufactured by Italian brand Cassina and features sculpted beech, cedar, teak, or walnut with brass details, a glass tabletop, and a removable glass tray. Lacca also designed high-backed lounge chairs, which were regularly featured in Arredoluce advertisements for Angelo Lelli’s lighting...
Brass, Metal
$1,553Sale Price|20% Off
H 28.75 in W 36.62 in D 19.69 in
Cesare Lacca Midcentury Wood Italian Bar Cart with Glass Serving Trays 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Roma, IT
Fantastic midcentury wood bar cart with glass serving trays. This piece is attributed to Cesare Lacca and it was designed in Italy during 1950s. ...
Brass
$1,641
H 29.53 in W 17.72 in D 27.56 in
Italian Mid Century Modern Trolley Bar Cart Brass Glass by Cesare Lacca, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Nicolosi, IT
Elegant Italian Mid-Century Modern bar cart from the 1950s by Cesare Lacca, crafted in brass, glass and wood. The piece features a refined and lightweight structure, with warm wooden...
Brass
$2,658
H 31.5 in W 24.81 in D 20.87 in
1950s by Cesare Lacca Italian Design Midcentury Bar Cart Trolley
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Brescia, IT
Mahogany and brass details, crystal tops. Excellent condition, glass perfect.
Crystal, Brass
Cesare Lacca Brass Tea Cart 1950's
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Shibuya-ku, 13
This vintage tea cart by Cesare Lacca is a masterful fusion of natural warmth and refined elegance, featuring a beautifully crafted frame made of wood and brass. The organic texture ...
Brass
Cesare Lacca, Mid-Century Brass and Wood Bar Cart, Italy, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Catania, CT
Elegant mid-century bar cart designed by Cesare Lacca and produced in Italy during the 1950s. This iconic piece showcases a masterful combination of materials, featuring a solid wood...
Brass
Food Trolley by Cesare Lacca
By Cassina, Cesare Lacca
Located in IT
Walnut wood and glass shelves tray by Cesare Lacca for Cassina. Conservative restoration - original wheels. Measures 43 x 81 x 68 cm.
Wood, Glass
Cesare Lacca Serving Bar Cart, Italy, 1950's
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Barcelona, ES
Serving bar cart designed in 1950's by Cesare Lacca, Italy. Hardwood, clear glass and brass details. Movable serving tray on top and lower shelf with bottle compartment.
Metal, Brass
Cesare Lacca Trolley Bar, Italy, 1960s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Naples, IT
Food trolley in solid dark brown walnut, glass shelves, compartments for 3 bottles, wheels and brass fittings, designed by Cesare Lacca, Italy 1950.
Brass
Wood and Glass Serving Bar Cart by Cesare Lacca, Italy, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Rome, IT
1950s serving bar cart featuring wood structure and three glass shelves by the Italian designer Cesare Lacca. The little tray in the middle is removable.
Glass, Wood
Cesare Lacca Italian Bar Trolley, circa 1950
By Cesare Lacca
Located in London, GB
Nice example of Cesare Lacca bar trolley in wood and brass, Italy, circa 1950.
Brass
Sold
H 26.38 in W 30.71 in D 17.72 in
Midcentury Ebonized Walnut and Glass Serving Cart by Cesare Lacca, Italy, 1950s
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
This serving cart is made in ebonized and lacquered walnut, brass and varnished metal and it features glass shelves. It is a vintage item, therefore it might show slight traces of ...
Brass, Metal
1950s Cesare Lacca Drinks Trolley
By Cesare Lacca
Located in London, Lambeth
Architect designer Cesare Lacca created this fantastic trolley With brass glass and wood. It has a pull out glass and brass tray Easily move castors, 1950s, Italian.
Cesare Lacca Tripod Side Table Brass, Italy, 1950
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Roosendaal, Noord Brabant
Very nice and sophisticated side table designed and manufactured by Cesare Lacca, Italy, 1950. This table has a brass tripod base and white bar. It has a round handle to easily grab ...
Metal, Brass
Ico Parisi Pair of Side Tables, Italy, 1953
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Roosendaal, Noord Brabant
Very nice pair of side tray tables model 201 designed by Ico Parisi and manufactured by Angelo de Baggis, Cantu Italy, 1953. The tables have a solid birch wooden frame and glass inla...
Glass, Birch
Cesare Lacca Drink Trolley
By Cesare Lacca
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Elegant drink cart with three removable trays for serving at parties. All original wit incised made in Italy and paper model # 57 label. The cart was bought from the original owners...
Brass