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.
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
Italian Murano Faceted Glass & Brass Hinged Box / Jewelry Box
Located in North Miami, FL
This beautiful hinged Murano glass box in pristine clear faceted glass and brass trim and original decorative key and tassel. It is a wonderful desk or...
Crystal, Metal
Italian Leather Jewelry Box
Located in New York, NY
An Italian dark‑green leather jewelry box with gold embossing, tan suede interior, and three removeable trays, plus base storage, circa late-20th century, Italy. Crafted in deep hunt...
Brass
Italian Leather Jewelry Box
Located in New York, NY
An Italian tan leather jewelry box with gold embossed fleur-de-lis design on top, circa mid-20th century, Italy. Box, with its demi-line (halfmoon) shape, has an all-tan leather exte...
Leather, Suede
Italian Leather Triple Hump Jewelry Box
By Midcentury Italian school
Located in Cincinnati, OH
A very well-crafted handmade leather jewelry box with sculptural triple hump top, wavy sides and rare scalloped bottom design. In a darker saddle brown rubbed finish and lined in red...
Leather
$266Sale Price|20% Off
H 1.58 in W 5.32 in D 3.75 in
Vintage Italian Smoker's Box Jewelry Box Onyx Natural Stone
Located in Poperinge, BE
Vintage cigarette case or jewelry box made of natural onyx stone, decorated with gold-colored (copper-plated) metal fittings, Italian in origin, marked G.S.E. Ottone Garantito, circa...
Onyx, Metal, Brass
Italian Leather Jewelry Box
Located in New York, NY
An oval Italian rich dark brown leather jewelry box with gold embossed design, circa mid-20th century, 1940s - 1950s, Italy. Box, with its oval shape, has a dark brown leather exteri...
Leather, Silk
$305
H 2.37 in W 5.12 in D 3.94 in
Onyx Box Decorative or Jewelry Box Brown Color Made in Italy circa 1970
Located in Auribeau sur Siagne, FR
Box in onyx, in a green color. It is a decorative or jewelry box, made in Italy circa 1970.
Onyx
Italian Glass and Metal Jewelry Box, 1970s
Located in Hamburg, DE
This charming small glass box with gilt metal mounts and a delicate handle instantly recalls the shape of a miniature suitcase. Made in Italy during the 1970s, it is a decorative obj...
Glass
Onyx Jewelry Box, made in Italy, 1950s
Located in Palermo, IT
Onyx jewelry box, made in Italy, 1950s Intact and in good condition. Width 18 cm Depth 13 cm Height 7 cm
Onyx
Burl Wood Jewelry Box
Located in New York, NY
A small round burl wood trinket or jewelry box with pyramid-like top. Perfect for any desk or vanity area to hold small items. Shown with cocktail ring (available separately.) Dimens...
Burl, Wood
Rectangular onyx jewelry box Italy 1950s
Located in Palermo, Sicily
Rectangular Onyx jewelry box
Onyx
Italian Leather Jewelry Box, Small
Located in New York, NY
A vintage Italian red burgundy leather jewelry box in a demi-lune (half-moon) shape, hand-applied gold embossing/tooling on top/lid, circa early to mid-20th century, Italy. Shown hol...
Foil
$553
H 11.03 in Dm 7.49 in
Pop Stainless Steel Pear Box / Ice Bucket in the Style of Sottsass, 70s, Italy
By Ettore Sottsass, Lino Sabattini
Located in Roma, IT
We are pleased to offer for sale an unusual and playful object that will not go unnoticed in your home. This is a large-scale Italian box made of stainless steel, shaped like a fruit...
Stainless Steel
Jewelry Box Marquetry Inlay Jewelry Trinket Box
Located in Poperinge, BE
A charming vintage jewelry box, or trinket box, with colorful marquetry inlay, lined with red velvet, including a working key. Presumably Moroccan, second half of the 20th century. ...
Wood
Large Jewelry Music Box Made in Italy by Reuge 1960s
By Reuge Ste-Croix
Located in Moreno Valley, CA
Elegant large footed wooden music box with top finely hand painted and inlaid with foliages floral decor.A Sorrento Italy Romance Inlayed Wood Music Box Handcrafted in Italy, upon opening, the music box begins to play a theme. Elegant large footed wooden music box with top finely hand painted with foliages. The box is made in Italy stamped in the bottom. The musical movement...
Fruitwood
Lino Sabattini Made in Italy Box Container in Silver Metal, 1960s
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Reggio Emilia, IT
Italian Mid-Century Modern design decorative box, tea box or jewelry box in silver metal and plexiglass cover designed by Lino Sabattini, engraved Sabattini made in Italy under the b...
Metal, Silver Plate