Fontana Arte Furniture
Best known for its elegant and innovative vintage lighting fixtures, the Milan-based firm Fontana Arte pioneered one of the key features of 20th-century and contemporary Italian design: the union of artistry and industry wrought by partnerships between creative talents — chiefly architects — and entrepreneurial businesses. Fontana Arte is further distinguished by having had as artistic director, in succession, four of Italy’s most inventive modernist designers: Gio Ponti, Pietro Chiesa, French transplant Max Ingrand and Gae Aulenti.
The bread and butter of the glassmaking company that Luigi Fontana founded in 1881 was plate-glass panels for the construction industry. In 1930, Fontana met Ponti — then the artistic director of the Richard Ginori ceramics workshop and the editor of the influential magazine Domus — at a biannual design exhibition that became the precursor to today’s Milan Design Triennale, and the two hatched an idea for a furniture and housewares firm. Fontana Arte was incorporated in 1932 with Ponti as its chief of design. He contributed several lamps that remain among the company’s signature works, including the orb-atop-cone Bilia table lamp and the 0024 pendant — a stratified hanging sphere.
The following year, Fontana Arte partnered with the influential Milan studio glassmaker and retailer Pietro Chiesa, who took over as artistic director. Chiesa’s designs for lighting — as well as for tables and items including vases and ashtrays — express an appreciation for fluidity and simplicity of line, as seen in works such as his flute-shaped Luminator floor lamp and the 1932 Fontana table — an arched sheet of glass that is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Six years after Chiesa’s 1948 death, the École des Beaux Arts–trained Max Ingrand took over as head of design at Fontana Arte. Ingrand brought a similarly expressive formal sensibility to wares such as lamps and mirrors, but he also had a masterful eye for the manipulation of glass surfaces — whether they be cut, frosted, acid-etched or sand-blasted. His classic design is the Fontana table lamp of 1954, which has a truncated cone shade and curved body, both of which are made of pure, chic white-frosted glass.
Following Ingrand, the often-audacious Italian architect Gae Aulenti served as the company’s artistic director from 1979 to 1996, and while she generally insisted that furnishings take second place aesthetically to architecture, she made an exception for Fontana Arte pieces such as the Tavolo con Ruote series of glass coffee and dining tables on wheels, bold lighting pieces such as the Parola series and the Giova, a combination flower vase and table lamp. As a key incubator of modern design under Aulenti’s tenure, Fontana Arte remained true to its long-held commitment — creating objects that have never been less than daring.
Find vintage Fontana Arte lighting fixtures such as pendants, table lamps and more on 1stDibs.
Color: Green
Creator: Fontana Arte
1950 Fontana Arte Italian Design Midcentury Glass Ashtray Bowl
By Fontana Arte
Located in Brescia, IT
Ashtray
by Fontana arte
Italy, 1950s
Glass in perfect condiction
Category
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fontana Arte Furniture
Materials
Glass
Round Bowl or Ashtray in Green Glass Mirrored by Fontana Arte, Italy 1960s
By Fontana Arte, Max Ingrand
Located in Rome, IT
Rare round bowl or ashtray in green crystal glass and mirrored underside with four concave circle by Fontana Arte.
Made in Italy in the 1960s.
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fontana Arte Furniture
Materials
Crystal
Squared Ashtray Green Crystal Glass by Fontana Arte Italy 1960s
By Fontana Arte
Located in Rome, IT
Mid-Century Modern square green glass ashtray. This wonderful piece was produced by Fontana Arte in Italy during the 1960s.
It is composed of ...
Category
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fontana Arte Furniture
Materials
Crystal
Octagonal Green Centrepiece / Vide Poche by Fontana Arte, Italy, 1950s
By Fontana Arte
Located in London, GB
Beautiful and unique octagonal centrepiece or vide poche signed Fontana Arte.
Green Art Glass. A remarkable piece for a study or living room.
Signed FX
Italy 1950s.
Category
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fontana Arte Furniture
Materials
Art Glass
Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte Model 1941 Sconce, Italy, 1950s
By Fontana Arte, Max Ingrand
Located in Naples, IT
White diffuser glass and satin-finished and curved coloured crystal and brass frame.
Category
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fontana Arte Furniture
Materials
Glass
Fontana Arte Rare Ashtrav 1950 Emerald Green Color, Italy
By Fontana Arte
Located in Milano, IT
Fontana Arte rare Ashtrav 1950 emerald green color, Italy.
Category
1950s Italian Other Vintage Fontana Arte Furniture
Materials
Crystal
Fontana Arte Ashtrav 1950 Emerald Green Color
By Fontana Arte
Located in Milano, IT
Ashtrav Fontana Arte signed FX 1950 emerald green color, Italy.
Category
1950s Italian Other Vintage Fontana Arte Furniture
Materials
Crystal
Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte Dodecagon Crystal Ashtray
By Pietro Chiesa, Fontana Arte
Located in Hanover, MA
Twelve sided cut crystal ashtray with three wheel-ground optic bubble dimples by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte.
Category
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Fontana Arte Furniture
Materials
Optical Glass
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Pietro Chiesa (1892-1948) was an Italian designer who specialised in modernist and Art Deco designs. Chiesa was one of the founding members of FontanaArte which was established in 1932, and as its artistic director, he designed hundreds of items ranging from furniture to objets d’art. A member of the Swiss Ticino family of artists, Chiesa is best known for his glass furnishing pieces, such as the Fontana table.
Fontana Arte (established in 1933) was founded by Luigi Fontana, Gio Ponti, and Pietro Chiesa as a premier producer and marketer of furniture, lighting, and furnishing accessories, and distignuished itself applying the highest standards of glass craftsmanship and techniques. Throughout Fontana Arte’s history, its lamps and furniture have been highly sought after due to their superior glass craftsmanship and innovative design.
Saint-Gobain Invests in Luigi Fontanta e Compagni
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Fontana Arte furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
Fontana Arte furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Fontana Arte furniture, although beige editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original furniture by Fontana Arte were created in the mid-century modern style in italy during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Stilnovo, Barovier&Toso, and Gaetano Sciolari. Prices for Fontana Arte furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $2,200 and can go as high as $42,800, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $10,400.
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