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.
Italian Black Plexiglass Decorative Panel with Animal by Lino Sabattini, 1980s
By Lino Sabattini
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian black plexiglass decorative panel with animal by Lino Sabattini, 1980s Black plexiglass decorative panel with eight silhouettes of animals in silver-plated brass by Lino Sab...
Silver
$4,026
H 14.38 in W 16.54 in D 1.97 in
Birger Kaipiainen "Duetto" Decorative Dish in Black & Gold Beads, Arabia 1980s
By Birger Kaipiainen, Arabia
Located in Helsinki, FI
This is a beautiful ceramic plate decorated with multiple black and gold beadings and it is a good example of the artists skill to use colours and fine iridescent glaze dots and deta...
Ceramic, Beads
Teak Wood Decorative Panels with Japanese Kimono Figures
Located in Prato, Tuscany
We kindly suggest you read the whole description, because with it we try to give you detailed technical and historical information to guarantee the authenticity of our objects. Series of three decorative panels made of teak hardwood; they have a pleasing elongated hexagon shape; on each one is depicted a Japanese woman wearing a Kimono; they have an attachment so they can be arranged on the wall in a personal way. They were produced in Denmark between 1960 and 1965. The top one (see photo) and the bottom one present the "Furisode" Kimono, while the middle one is the Uchikake Kimono...
Teak
Sicilian Glazed Terracotta Wall Decoration, Italy, 1980s
Located in Palermo, IT
Sicilian glazed terracotta wall decoration, Italy, 1980s Reproduced a shovel of prickly pears. It is in excellent condition.
Terracotta
Substantial Decorative Copper Panel with Hunt Scene
Located in Evergreen, CO
A stunning work of pressed copper, this substantial piece depicts a hunting scene from the late-19th century. If we could title the piece, we would call it "Bulging" after the magnif...
Copper
Tejo Black and White Handmade Decorative Tile Panel
By Theia Tiles
Located in Lisbon, PT
This handmade decorative tile panel combines the traditional Portuguese faience tile making techniques with a modern approach of shapes and color, res...
Faience, Wood
Italian, 18th Century Decorative Panel
By Bonzanigo
Located in New York, NY
A neoclassical painted and gilded overdoor panel in the manner of Giuseppe Maria Bonzanigo, circa 1790.
Wood
Paper Artwork with Wood Frame by Ugo La Pietra, Italy, 1980s
By Ugo La Pietra
Located in Milan, IT
Remarkable artwork by Ugo La Pietra. Wood frame and handwritten signature on the front.
Paper
Decorative Panel by Angelo Brotto for Esperia
By Esperia, Angelo Brotto
Located in Milan, Italy
Steel and Murano glass bright panel designed by Angelo Brotto for Esperia, 70’s, There is the label. Biography Angelo Brotto 1914– 2002, was a venetian designer and artist that was ...
Steel
Vintage Decorative Panel by Roberto Cavalli, 2000s
By Roberto Cavalli
Located in Roma, IT
Monumental decorative wall panel composed of nine square modules arranged in a precise 3 x 3 grid, each inset with a circular polished metal element. Overall dimensions: 180 x 180 cm...
Metal
Italian Postmodern Memphis-Style Wall Sculpture, 1980s
Located in North Palm Beach, FL
This striking wall sculpture is a vibrant example of Italian postmodern design, echoing the bold spirit of the Memphis movement of the 1980s. Composed of four vertically aligned pane...
Wood
Unique Decorative Art Tile, Roger Capron, Italy c. 1980
By Roger Capron
Located in St Ouen, FR
Unique decoration on earthenware made to order by the Artist for the famous Italian decorative ceramics firm Marazzi. An ode to love and wine carried by a shepherdess treated in a ve...
Earthenware
Decorative Art Tile, Roger Capron for Marazzi, Italy c. 1980
By Roger Capron
Located in St Ouen, FR
Unique decoration on earthenware made to order by the Artist for the famous Italian decorative ceramics firm Marazzi. We offer a total of 3 tiles from this series of extremely rare u...
Earthenware