Fontana Arte Collectibles and Curiosities
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.
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Creator: Fontana Arte
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 Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Crystal
Fontana Arte Clothes Hangers Brass Wood Glass 1945 Italy
By Fontana Arte
Located in Milano, IT
Fontana Arte.
Category
1940s Italian Vintage Fontana Arte Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Brass
Pair of Fontana Arte Midcentury Green Crystal Glass Squared Italian Ashtrays
By Fontana Arte
Located in Roma, IT
Two Incredible Mid-Century Modern square green glass ashtrays. These wonderful pieces were produced by Fontana Arte in Italy during the 1960s.
...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Fontana Arte Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Crystal
Fontana Arte Empty Ashtray Pockets Cut and Hollowed Crystal, 1960, Italy
By Fontana Arte
Located in Milano, IT
Fontana Arte empty ashtray pockets and hollowed crystal, 1960, Italy.
Category
1960s Italian Other Vintage Fontana Arte Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Crystal
Fontana Arte Blue Mirrored Glass and Wood Game Box, 1950, Italy
By Fontana Arte
Located in Milano, IT
Fontana Arte blue mirrored glass and wood game box, 1950, Italy.
Category
1950s Italian Other Vintage Fontana Arte Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Glass
Fontana Arte 1950s Modernist Glass Pen Holder or Stand and Ashtray Desk Set
By Max Ingrand, Fontana Arte
Located in Landau an der Isar, Bayern
Max Ingrand (attributed) for Fontana Arte desk set featuring a pen holder or stand with a tray and an ashtray. Made in Italy of thick polished gr...
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Fontana Arte Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Glass
Fontana Arte 1970s, Ashtray in Leather, Brass and Faceted Glass, Italy Art Glass
By Fontana Arte
Located in Roma, IT
Fontana Arte 1970s. Ashtray in leather, brass and faceted glass.
Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Fontana Arte Collectibles and Curiosities
Materials
Glass
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Fontana Arte freeform glass ashtray, Italy 1950s
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1950 Fontana Arte Italian Design Midcentury Glass Ashtray Bowl
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Fontana Arte Mirrored Crystal Italian Design, 1960s Ashtray Bowl
By Fontana Arte
Located in Brescia, IT
Fontana Arte
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Mirrored crystal
Perfect condiction
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Midcentury Pietro Chiesa Carved Crystal Glass Italian Ashtray for Fontana Arte
By Fontana Arte, Pietro Chiesa
Located in Roma, IT
Amazing midcentury carved crystal glass ashtray. This wonderful item was designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte in Italy during 1960s.
This piece is unique as it has two carved sides and two straight ones and tone of the crystal, that is a very elegant water marine.
A perfect bowl to complete a midcentury-style living room or entrance.
Measures (cms):
width - 20
depth - 20
height - 2
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
The origins of Fontana Arte go back to 1881, when Luigi Fontana established Luigi Fontana e Compagni to produce and market sheet glass for the construction industry. Luigi’s success as an entrepreneur in the growing Italian construction sector attracted the attention of the French glass-making company Saint-Gobain, which, in 1910, took a majority stake in the ownership of Luigi Fontana e Compagni transforming it into a “Società Anonima” still under the direction of Luigi Fontana. By the mid-1920s, Fontana e Compagni’s capabilities included the creation of artistic stained glass that was mostly used in functional and decorative settings of churches and cathedrals.
Gio Ponti Becomes Fontana e Compagni’s Artistic Director
In just a few years, the production of such artistic stained-glass products had become of such importance that a different division within the Fontana e Compagni was created to further its development. In 1930, Luigi Fontana met the successful young Milanese architect Gio Ponti, who was then the art director of Richard-Ginori pottery company, and they formed a partnership, under the name of Luigi Fontana SA, for the production of light fixtures, furniture, and furnishing objects. During this initial period, Gio Ponti designed from Fontana Arte the now-iconic 0024 Pendant light (1931) and the Bilia Table Lamp (1931).
Pietro Chiesa, Gio Ponti, and Luigi Fontana Found Fontana Arte
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Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Fontana Arte Collectibles and Curiosities
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H 0.79 in W 7.88 in D 7.88 in
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Mid-Century Modern Fontana Arte Green Crystal Glass Squared Italian Ashtray
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Amazing Mid-Century Modern green glass squared ashtray. This wonderful piece was produced by Fontana Arte in Italy during the 1960s.
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Ashtray by Fontana Arte Glass, Italy, 1960s
By Fontana Arte
Located in Roma, IT
Ashtrays by Fontana Arte.
Green glass, Classic of Fontana Arte, Italy.
No chipping, only signs of use
Measurements: 14.5 x 9.5 x 2 cm.
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Pair of Ashtray by Fontana Arte Glass, Italy, 1960s
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Pair of ashtrays by Fontana Arte.
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Fontana Arte Door Umbrellas, 1950, Molten Cristal Rectangular
By Fontana Arte
Located in Milano, IT
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Category
1950s Italian Vintage Fontana Arte Collectibles and Curiosities
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Fontana Arte collectibles and curiosities for sale on 1stDibs.
Fontana Arte collectibles and curiosities are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of glass and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Fontana Arte collectibles and curiosities, although gray editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original collectibles and curiosities 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 collectibles and curiosities by Bitossi, Aldo Tura, and Tommaso Barbi. Prices for Fontana Arte collectibles and curiosities can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $648 and can go as high as $2,695, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $1,316.
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