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 Lino Sabattini, Ludovico Diaz de Santillana, VeArt
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 for Christofle
By Christofle, Lino Sabattini
Located in Byron Bay, NSW
Lino Sabattini Silver Plated Table Lamp by Christofle, France 1960s. Silver plated tube with Perspex middle section.
Silver Plate
'Shogun' Table Lamp by Mario Botta for Artemide
By Artemide, Mario Botta
Located in Glendale, CA
'Shogun' Table Lamp by Mario Botta for Artemide. Originally designed in 1986, the authorized re-edition of this table lamp is still made in Italy today using only the finest quality materials and scrupulous attention to detail by Artemide. 'Shogun' is part of the Artemide masterpieces collection and is featured in the collections of museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The lamp remains an icon, and a stunning work of contemporary design. Its adjustable shade marries functionality with design eloquently. Mario Botta was born in 1943 in Mendrisio, Switzerland. In his work he took inspiration from such masters as Le Corbusier, Louis I...
Metal, Steel
Gad Aulenti Table Lamp for Artemide
By Gae Aulenti
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The "Pileino" is a small, versatile table lamp that allows the user to change both light intensity and direction by positioning the shade. Designed by Gae Aulenti for Artemide in 197...
$2,369
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
$2,309
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
Giancarlo Mattioli 'Nessino' Table Lamp in White for Artemide
By Artemide, Giancarlo Mattioli
Located in Glendale, CA
Giancarlo Mattioli 'Nessino' table lamp in white for Artemide. With its mushroom shape and bright hues, the Nessino lamp has become a design icon. Introduced in 1967, the Nessino wa...
Plastic
Giancarlo Mattioli 'Nesso' Table Lamp in Orange for Artemide
By Artemide, Giancarlo Mattioli
Located in Glendale, CA
Giancarlo Mattioli 'Nesso' table lamp in orange for Artemide. Designed by Mattioli in the 1960s, the Nesso is now an internationally celebrated design. Its iconic curves inspired b...
Plastic
Monumental Murano Glass Table Lamp by Adolf Loos for VeArt, 1970s
By VeArt, Adolf Loos
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
Giancarlo Mattioli 'Nessino' Table Lamp in Red for Artemide
By Artemide, Giancarlo Mattioli
Located in Glendale, CA
Giancarlo Mattioli 'Nessino' table lamp in red for Artemide. With its mushroom shape and bright hues, the Nessino lamp has become a design icon. Introduced in 1967, the Nessino was ...
Plastic
Giancarlo Mattioli 'Nesso' Table Lamp in White for Artemide
By Artemide, Giancarlo Mattioli
Located in Glendale, CA
Giancarlo Mattioli 'Nesso' table lamp in white for Artemide. Designed by Mattioli in the 1960s, the Nesso is now an internationally celebrated design. Its iconic curves inspired by...
Plastic
Giancarlo Mattioli 'Nessino' Table Lamp in Orange for Artemide
By Giancarlo Mattioli, Artemide
Located in Glendale, CA
Giancarlo Mattioli 'Nessino' table lamp in orange for Artemide. With its mushroom shape and bright hues, the Nessino lamp has become a design icon. Introduced in 1967, the Nessino w...
Plastic
Joe Colombo 'Minitopo' Table Lamp in Chrome for Stilnovo
By Joe Colombo, Stilnovo
Located in Glendale, CA
Joe Colombo 'Minitopo' table lamp in chrome for Stilnovo Founded in 1946 in Milan, Stilnovo was one of the most innovative lighting companies in Italy during the Midcentury era, pro...
Metal, Chrome
Vico Magistretti 'Atollo' Opaline Glass Table Lamp for Oluce
By Vico Magistretti, Oluce
Located in Glendale, CA
Vico Magistretti 'Atollo' opaline glass table lamp for Oluce. Originally designed in 1977, this iconic re-edition is still crafted by Oluce in I...
Metal
Sold
H 15.36 in Dm 3.35 in
20th Century Lino Sabattini Pair of Table Lamps in Silver for Christofle, 70s
By Christofle, Lino Sabattini
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