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 Silver Plated Table Lamp by Christofle, France
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Den Haag, NL
Lino Sabattini silver plated table lamp by Christofle, France. Silver plated tube with Perspex middle section.
Silver Plate
Brown Murano Glass Table Lamp by Sabattini and Diaz de Santillana for VeArt
By VeArt, Ludovico Diaz de Santillana, Lino Sabattini
Located in Bresso, Lombardy
Made in Italy in 1970s. It features a chrome-plated metal base with holes and a brown etched blown glass lampshade. It has been replated and rewired. This is a vintage piece, there...
Metal, Chrome
Lino Sabattini Table Lamp by Christofle, Silver Plate, 1960s Italy
By Lino Sabattini, Christofle
Located in Byron Bay, NSW
Lino Sabattini Silver Plated Table Lamp by Christofle, France 1960s. Silver plated tube with Perspex middle section.
Silver Plate
Mid-Century Cocoon Cream Base Table Lamp by Castiglioni, Italy 1960s
By Achille Castiglioni, Flos
Located in Roma, IT
Delightful Mid-Century cocoon table lamp with a cream colored plastic base. This incredibly sylish and unique table lamp was designed by Castiglioni and produced by Flos in Italy dur...
Metal
Italian Vintage Chrome Lamp, 1960s
Located in Paris, FR
A 20th century Italian vintage tubular chrome table or desk lamp circa 1960s. We are an exhibition space and an online destination established by Jonathan Amar Studio. All our piec...
Chrome
Midcentury Wicker and Rattan Italian Table Lamp, 1960s
Located in Roma, IT
Amazing midcentury wicker and rattan table lamp. This fantastic piece was designed in Italy during the 1960s. Having a wicker lampshade, the light diffusion is incredibly warm and...
Bamboo, Wicker, Straw, Rattan
Large Gatto Beige Cocoon Table Lamps by Castiglioni for Flos, Italy 1960s
By Flos, Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Located in Roma, IT
Magnificent first edition large Gatto cocoon table lamps designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and produced by Flos in Italy during the 1960s. The lamps are signed inside....
Metal
1960s French Ceramic Table Lamp
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage ceramic lamp from Vallauris, France, 1960's. Glazed ceramic base and handle in light grey coloring. Lovely circular appliqué details on handle and neck. Newly rewired with ne...
Ceramic, Linen
$2,394
H 15.75 in Dm 15.75 in
Ludovico Diaz de Santillana for Venini "Anemone" Table Lamp, Italy, 1970s
By Venini, Ludovico Diaz de Santillana
Located in Naples, IT
Anemone blown glass table lamp designed by Ludovico Diaz de Santillana for Murano glass specialist Venini in the 1970s. The elegant design that seems to have been inspired by sea an...
Murano Glass
20th Century Pair of Silver Plated Flower Lamps, Spain, 1960s
By Valmazan
Located in Paris, FR
20th Century vintage pair of silver plated, 1960s table lamps with flower designs of exceptional craftsmanship. Marked by Spanish silverware makers ...
Aluminum, Silver
$2,334
H 5.5 in Dm 11 in
Murano Glass Flush Mount by Ludovico Diaz de Santillana for Venini, Italy, 1970s
By Venini, Ludovico Diaz de Santillana
Located in Frankfurt am Main, DE
Murano Reticello glass Flush mount by Ludovico Diaz de Santillana for Venini, Series -Tessuto-, Italy, 1970s. Hand-blown from white and clear Murano glass in spiral shape, ceiling mo...
Metal
$1,664 / set
H 8.67 in Dm 7.88 in
Pair of Beige "Dentate" Cocoon Table Lamps by Castiglioni, Italy 1960s
By Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni
Located in Roma, IT
Wonderful and unique pair of cocoon round table lamps with wooden bases. In fabulous condition, with no rips or stains. These incredibly charming table lamps were designed by Achille...
Metal, Steel
Monumental Murano Glass Table Lamp by Adolf Loos for VeArt, 1970s
By Adolf Loos, VeArt
Located in Mortsel, BE
Large 50cm VeArt Blown Glass Sphere Lamp, Wire Cage, Space Age Italy Monumental table lamp, designed by Austrian architect Adolf Loos and manufactured by the Italian glassmaker VeAr...
Metal
$5,028
H 16.54 in W 15.75 in D 15.75 in
Lamp 831 in Orange by Ludovico Diaz de Santillana for Venini, Italy 1960s
By Ludovico Diaz de Santillana, Venini
Located in Hellouw, NL
Designed during a pivotal era for Venini, this ‘Model 831’ table lamp captures the innovation and clarity of vision that defined Ludovico Diaz de Santillana’s work. Created in the 19...
Glass
$2,633
H 15.75 in Dm 15.75 in
Italian Murano Glass Sphere by Ludovico Diaz de Santillana for Venini, 1980s
By Paolo Venini, Ludovico Diaz de Santillana
Located in Morazzone, Varese
Gorgeous large hand blown Murano pendant light using the highly skilled reticello technique of Venetian Glass Masters. The color if the glass is shiny white. The pendant glass is sus...
Brass
Sold
H 15.36 in Dm 3.35 in
20th Century Lino Sabattini Pair of Table Lamps in Silver for Christofle, 70s
By Lino Sabattini, Christofle
Located in Turin, Turin
Lino Sabattini was an Italian artist. He worked at a brassware store, where he also learned metalworking techniques. At the age of 30 he moved to Milan, where he opened a small works...
Metal
1960s Massimo Vignelli Glass Mid-Century Modern Pendant Lamp for Venini
By Venini, Lino Sabattini, Massimo Vignelli
Located in Reggio Emilia, IT
1960s pendant lamp composed by three lights “onion-shape” diffusers made by opalescent glass, dove-gray color, designed by Massimo Vignelli, corresponding to the Venini’s design n°40...
Brass
Pair of 1960's Italian Chrome Plated Sconces by Sabattini
By Lino Sabattini
Located in Queens, NY
Designed by Italian artist Lino Sabattini (b.1925), this pair of mid-century left and right chrome plated wall sconces each features an arrang...
Chrome