Max Ingrand Lighting

Max Ingrand project, 1954, for Fontana Arte, Italy, white satin glass, small brass seal in the vase, metal base, white lacquered. Best known for its elegant and innovative vintage lighting pieces, the Milan-based firm Fontana Arte pioneered one of the key features of 20th-century and contemporary Italian design: the union of artistry and industry wrought by partnerships between creative talents — chiefly architects — and entrepreneurial businesses. Fontana Arte is further distinguished by having had as artistic director, in succession, four of Italy’s most inventive modernist designers: Giò Ponti, Pietro Chiesa, French transplant Max Ingrand and Gae Aulenti. The bread and butter of the glassmaking company that Luigi Fontana founded in 1881 was plate-glass panels for the construction industry. In 1930, Fontana met Ponti — then the artistic director of the Richard-Ginori ceramics workshop and the editor of the influential magazine Domus— at a biannual design exhibition that became the precursor to today’s Milan Design Triennale, and the two hatched an idea for a furniture and housewares firm. Fontana Arte was incorporated in 1932 with Ponti as its chief of design. He contributed several lamps that remain among the company’s signature works, including the orb-atop-cone Bilia table lamp and the 0024 pendant — a stratified hanging sphere. The following year, Fontana Arte partnered with the influential Milan studio glassmaker and retailer Pietro Chiesa, who took over as artistic director. Chiesa’s designs for lighting — as well as for tables and items including vases and ashtrays — express an appreciation for fluidity and simplicity of line, as seen in works such as his flute-shaped Luminator floor lamp and the 1932 Fontana table — an arched sheet of glass that is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Six years after Chiesa’s 1948 death, the École des Beaux Arts–trained Max Ingrand took over as head of design at Fontana Arte. Ingrand brought a similarly expressive formal sensibility to wares such as lamps and mirrors, but he also had a masterful eye for the manipulation of glass surfaces — whether they be cut, frosted, acid-etched or sand-blasted. His classic design is the Fontana table lamp of 1954, which has a truncated cone shade and curved body, both of which are made of pure, chic white-frosted glass. Following Ingrand, the often-audacious Italian architect Gae Aulenti served as the company’s artistic director from 1979 to 1996, and while she generally insisted that furnishings take second place aesthetically to architecture, she made an exception for Fontana Arte pieces such as the Tavolo con Ruote series of glass coffee and dining tables on wheels...

Beautiful pair of Fontana Arte wall lights, model 1461 from the "Dalia" series. The glasses are clear with turquoise beveling while the frame is brass with two candelabra sockets. On...

Max Ingrand, Pair of rare rose colored acid-etched crystal table lamps or sconces, glass and brass, designed for Fontana Arte, Italy, 1950s. It is an extremely sophisticated model, ...

Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte table lamp composed of frosted glass shade mounted on brushed nickel base creating a lustrous glo...

Satin and beveled glass screens, metal and brass frame, Fontana Arte edition Made by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte, model 1943.

This extremely elegant table lamp was designed by Max Ingrand in 1955, during the period when this French maestro was artistic director at Fontana Arte. Joints in chromed brass hold ...

Versatile fixture designed by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte in the 1960s which can be used as a wall light or table lamp. Its “clam” design allows the two frosted glass diffusers (one...

A globular bubble glass table lamp designed by Max Ingrand for the renowned French glass company, Saint-Gobain. This stunning lamp features an organic form, chiseled glass piece that...

Pair of vintage wall lights with clear curved beveled glasses and decorative engraving on mounted on brass frames by Max Ingrand for Fontan...

Modern vintage pendant consisting of a nickel-plated brass structure and partially frosted glass. Designed by Max Ingrand and produced by Fontana Arte. Made in Italy, c. 1960's. *Rew...

Vintage pendant with two large curved faceted beveled glasses, mounted on chrome frame by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte/ Made in Italy, circa 1960s

Max Ingrand design years '60 for Fontana Arte space age ceiling lamp 2027 six point light. Measure long 32 inches, perfect original condition a. vo...

Rare vintage pendant made of a brass structure and curved frosted glass inserts. Designed by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte, Italy, c. 1960's. *Rewired to fit US Lighting Standards. *C...

Mid-Century Suspension Mod. 2364 by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte, Italy

Glass pendant by Max Ingrand (1908-1969) for Fontana Arte. It's known by the name of Model 2259. Peter Fiell (2005) "1000 Lights 1878 to 1959" p. 481. Italy, CIRCA 1960.

Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte rare and extraordinary chandelier model 2088 consisting of nine double lens cut panels of thick profiled polished glass with partially sand-blasted glass...