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Lino Sabattini Boxes

Italian, 1925-2016

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.

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Creator: Lino Sabattini
Lino Sabattini Made in Italy Decorative Box in Silver Metal, 1960s
Lino Sabattini Made in Italy Decorative Box in Silver Metal, 1960s

Lino Sabattini Made in Italy Decorative Box in Silver Metal, 1960s

By Lino Sabattini

Located in Reggio Emilia, IT

Italian Mid-Century Modern design cylindrical container for breadsticks or decorative box in silver metal designed by Lino Sabattini, engraved Sabattini Made in Italy under the base,...

Category

1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Lino Sabattini Boxes

Materials

Metal, Silver Plate

1944 Lino Sabattini Christofle Design Silver Metal Apple Box
1944 Lino Sabattini Christofle Design Silver Metal Apple Box

1944 Lino Sabattini Christofle Design Silver Metal Apple Box

By Lino Sabattini

Located in Brescia, IT

Apple Box Lino Sabattini Christofle _ Coll. Gallia France, 1944 Silver Metal Box Mark engraved under the bottom Very Good Condiction bibliography: Filippo Alison...

Category

1940s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Lino Sabattini Boxes

Materials

Metal

Spherical in signature silver plate engraved under the base
Spherical in signature silver plate engraved under the base

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...

Category

1960s Italian Vintage Lino Sabattini Boxes

Materials

Silver Plate

Sabattini Italy production in years 50 jewelry box
Sabattini Italy production in years 50 jewelry box

Sabattini Italy production in years 50 jewelry box

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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...

Category

1950s Italian Minimalist Vintage Lino Sabattini Boxes

Materials

Stainless Steel

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Lino Sabattini boxes for sale on 1stDibs.

Lino Sabattini boxes are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of silver and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Lino Sabattini boxes, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original boxes by Lino Sabattini were created in the modern style in italy during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider boxes by Giovanni Cenedese, Tommaso Barbi, and Macabo. Prices for Lino Sabattini boxes can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $423 and can go as high as $1,200, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $787.