Lino Sabattini was the preeminent figure in modern Italian silver and metalware design. His expansive and diverse body of work is marked by its strength and boldness, whether in dynamic forms that suggest the thrust and power of Italian Futurist art and design or light and curvaceous biomorphic serveware and decorative objects.
Sabattini was largely self-taught as a designer. Born in the northern Italian town of Correggio, he learned metalsmithing techniques while working in the studio of a maker of brass tableware. He also served as an apprentice of sorts to the expatriate German ceramist Roland Hettner, who taught Sabattini about fluidity of form and showed him how shapes derive from the behavior of materials.
At age 30, Sabattini opened a studio in Milan, and his work quickly came to the attention of Gio Ponti, who decided to publish it in Domus, the Italian design legend's influential design and architecture magazine. Ponti also arranged for Sabattini’s creations to be included in a 1956 exhibition of contemporary Italian design in Paris. The principals of Christofle, the revered French silverware maker, were so impressed that they hired the young designer as the firm’s artistic director, a post he held until 1963. Sabattini, who would also go on to design ceramic wares for Rosenthal, returned home to open Argenteria Sabattini in Bregnano, a company still in business today.
A designer with a questing curiosity and ever-evolving aesthetic sensibility, Sabattini couldn’t be pinned down to one particular style. His best-known work, the Como coffee and tea service of 1956, has an elegant, attenuated and energetic form; his Stairs coffee and tea service (1971), meanwhile, is a clever group of simple columnar shapes in stepped heights, which nest together in a compact arrangement. Other Sabattini pieces have dramatic angles, or sweeping, wing-like flourishes, or consist of perforated ovoids somehow reminiscent of sculptures by Brancusi. In any style, Sabattini produced objects of singular fascination.
Find a range of vintage Lino Sabattini vases and other decorative objects on 1stDibs.
Lino Sabattini 'Cardinale' Bud Vase Design for Christofle
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Sharon, CT
The largest (14.5") version of this classic silver plated brass vase designed by Lino Sabattini for Christofle. Fully signed on bottom.
Silver Plate
Lino Sabattini Italy Vase "Persepoli" Limited Edition 8/237
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Toledo, OH
Lio Sabattini "Persepoli" limited edition vase 8/237 Italy.
Metal
20th Century Gio Ponti and Lino Sabattini Sculpture La Luna Strega, 1978
By Gio Ponti, Lino Sabattini
Located in Turin, Turin
Now thirty, Sabattini moved from Blevio to Milan, where he found a small laboratory with all the essential tools of his craft. His contacts with “Domus” became more frequent. This be...
Metal
Lino Sabattini Vase Date, circa 1990
By Lino Sabattini
Located in London, GB
Lino Sabattini Vase Date, circa 1990 A beautiful quality silver plate vase designed with a Japanese influence. For such a tall slender form, the heavy gauge of materials used gives...
Silver Plate
"Angolo Collezione" of Silver Plated Abstract Geometric Forms by Sabattini
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Palm Desert, CA
Wonderful collection of abstract geometric sculptural forms titled "The Collection of Angles" (Angolo Collezione) designed and made by renown Italian metalworker Lino Sabattini. Incl...
Silver Plate
Pair of Post Modern Lino Sabattini Harmony 1989 Candlesticks Silverplate
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Palm Springs, CA
A beautiful pair of Lino Sabattini post modern silver plated candlesticks from his Harmony series of 1989/90. They are marked on the side of one upright. they each have four candleho...
Silver Plate
"Harmony" by Lino Sabattini 1980s Design Postmodern Silver Plated Candleholder
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Brescia, IT
"Harmony" by Lino Sabattini 1989, Italy Rare candleholder silver metal and black plastic.
Silver Plate
Lino Sabattini, oblong dish
By Lino Sabattini
Located in SAINT-OUEN-SUR-SEINE, FR
Oblong dish in silver plated metal by Lino Sabattini for Christofle, Italy circa 1957
Metal, Silver Plate
Pair of Bowls Silver Metal by Lino Sabattini, Italy 1970s
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Rome, IT
Pair of bowls, one composed of 7 bowls and the other of 4 bowls, by Sabattini. Made in Italy in the 1970s. Dimensions: - First 7: diameter 19.5 cm, height 3 cm. - Other 4: widt...
Metal
Lino Sabattini Silver Metal Sculpture Model Kalos, Vintage, 1978
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Milan, Italy
Kalos model sculpture designed and produced by Lino Sabattini in 1978. Limited edition of 23 pieces. Number 3. Signed. Biography Lino Sabattini was an Italian artist. He worked in a...
Metal
$365Sale Price|20% Off
Spherical in signature silver plate engraved under the base
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Catania, IT
Spherical in signature silver plate engraved under the base. In good condition with small wear caused by years and use. In an old windmill on the lake meets Rolando Hettner, a disp...
Silver Plate
Lino Sabbatini Rare Set of Graduated Round Silvered Bowls, Italy, 1970s
By Lino Sabattini
Located in New York, NY
Lino Sabbatini ( 1925-2016 ) A rare set of three graduated round silvered bowls with decorated rim. Signed Italy, 1970's Dimensions: Large: 12.5 Ø, medi...
Metal
Sabattini Italy production in years 50 jewelry box
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Biella, IT
Sabattini Italy production in years 50 jewelry box in stainless steel with top in plexiglass, very elegant. Lino Sabattini is an old-time craftsman. His objects, characterised by a...
Stainless Steel
Espansione Libero Verde, Lino Sabattini
By Lino Sabattini, Seguso Vetri d'Arte
Located in Uccle, BE
Vase consisting of a base in the form of a large saucer in silvered metal in which a very clear green glass expansion has been blown. The blown...
Glass