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Osvaldo Borsani Furniture

Italian, 1911-1985

With his stylish and technically innovative furniture, Osvaldo Borsani helped change the face of Italian design in the 1950s and ’60s. His sofas and chairs, featuring deeply upholstered seating and adjustable position settings, have an aura of optimism and efficiency that still seems fresh and lively today.

Born in the commune of Varedo in northern Italy’s Lombardy region, Borsani studied at the Brera Academy in Milan — the same school attended by such luminaries as designer Piero Fornasetti and artist Lucio Fontana — as well as the Polytechnic University of Milan. Borsani first worked for his father’s furniture-making firm, Arredamenti Borsani, an atelier influenced by the more expressive and curvaceous wing of Art Deco design.

By 1953, when, along with his twin brother, Fulgenzio — the pair also created this visionary mid-century villa — Borsani opened the furniture company Tecno, his design sensibilities had evolved toward furnishings with strong, simple forms enhanced by mechanical innovations, as with the P40 adjustable armchair. Borsani would be the firm’s lead designer for 30 years, while fostering work by Vico Magistretti, Carlo De Carli, Robin Day and others.

Similar to Gio Ponti in the earliest years of his career, Borsani first created designs marked by lush and buoyant lines: tables with voluptuous curved legs, sofas with undulating backrests.

But Borsani’s best-known and most novel pieces date from Tecno’s initial furniture lines: the adjustable D70 sofa, which folds open to make a daybed, and the P40 recliner. The latter — now included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum — is an articulated lounger with a back, seat and leg rest that can be moved into 486 different positions. Not only is it extremely comfortable, it is also enduringly chic.

Find a collection of vintage Osvaldo Borsani tables, dining chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.

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Creator: Osvaldo Borsani
Dealer: Artbrokerdesign BV
Sculptural form brass day bed by Osvaldo Borsani, Arredamento Borsani, circa 1958
By Arnaldo Pomodoro, Osvaldo Borsani, Arredamenti Borsani
Located in bergen op zoom, NL
Beautiful and important sculpturakl form brass single bed or day bed circa 1958-1963 by Osvaldo Borsani for 'Arredamento Borsani', Varedo , Italy. The small series of Borsani beds designed were produced in several different designs ,each in very limited numbers and all hand made by the Arredamento Borsani in Varedo, italy. This series of beds never went into serial industrial production , a fact confirmed to me by the Arredamento Borsani archives. Beginning in the late 1950s,Osvaldo Borsani went on to collaborate with many great artists such as Lucio Fontana, Fausto Melotti, Agenore Fabbri, Aligi Sassu and Arnaldo Pomodoro, amongst others entrusting each to provide decorative elements to his designs. The brass headboard features a series of heavy cast solid brass interlocking geometric elements each featuring a beautiful organic three dimensional surface finish creating a supremely elegant and timeless repetitive motif . The bed still retains all its original decorative brass nuts ,bolts and finials which feature the same three dimensional decorative finish as the decorative sculptural forms contained in the headboard. We have had a new bespoke mattress and bolster pillow made with a natural latex foam surface as they would have originally had which also has the benefit that latex breathes. The mattress has an opulent decorative buttoned finish . Botht the mattress and pillow have been finished in 100% wool 'PLOEGWOOL' fabric by the high quality Dutch fabric manufacturer DE PLOEG. MATTRESS DIMENSIONS : Width 100cm x length 200cm / 3ft 3.37inch x 6ft 6.74inch BOLSTER PILLOW DIMENSIONS: Width 100cm diameter 24cm / 3ft 3.37inch x 9.45inch The mattress is supported on a 20mm ( 0.75 inch ) thick plywood board ,with breathing holes, which spans across the transverse brass plated steel frame elements. When used as a day bed SEATING...
Category

1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Furniture

Materials

Brass

First Edition P32 Lounge Set by Borsani, Early Triangulated Form Wire Base, 1956
By Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno
Located in bergen op zoom, NL
Stunning, rare early first edition 1956 "32" series lounge set by Italian designer Osvaldo Borsani for 'Tecno', Italy. This set comprises a pair of first edition 'P32' lounge and the extremely rare and rrarely seen matching first edition three seat 'D32' sofa. This early set also still retain their original solid brass 'Tecno' manufacturer's roundels (, the P'32' lounge chairs still retain their early first edition solid brass knurled spring adjusters. See image 5. A rare opportunity to acquire a complete first edition series '32' lounge set. The first edition of this series is disinguished by its elegant triangulated wire rod base which gives the base a sculptural quality that was somewhat lost in the second ediiton where the triangulated wire base was replaced by a more utilitarian and simplified three prong steel base of a heavier guage to replace the strength lost by the removal of the triangulation. This simplification of the second edition reduced overall production costs but in my opinon lost some of the visual appeal of the first edition chairs. This set have had their upholstery completely restored with new high quality Pantera foam and new rubber support webbing by the original italian manufacturer PIRELLI. The chairs and sofa have been finished in lovely high quality ' A perfect flower' fabric by italian textile manufacturer DEDAR. 'A perfect flower' by DEDAR has a hard-wearing wool texture poised between the perfect regularity of its warp and weft weaving and the natural exuberance of ondé yarn which ripples its surface. The black enamel finish on the chair bases and sofa legs have been left in their original condition to maintain some visual original period authenticity to this rare early set, these could easily be repainted should the buyer wish to do so. We have also left the brass hardware in its original patina for the same reason but these could also be polished. The 'P32' lounge chairs was presented in 'Tecno' manufacturer catalogs as a "swivel armchair with automatic repositioning mechanism, metal frame , adjustable back and spring, foam rubber padding and interchangeable covers available in a broad range of colors" This ingenious automatic repositioning mechanism means that you when sat in the seat you can swivel the chair through any angle between 0- 360 degrees for ease of conversation etc however when you stand up the seat will automatically return to its original position in order to "maintain order in the room". Dimensions: Lounge chairs:- 84 cm wide x 75 cm deep x 80 cm high, seating height 40 cm 33.1" wide x 29.5" deep x 31.5" high, seating height 15.7" Sofa:- 190 cm wide x 75 cm deep x 80 cm high, seating height 40 cm 74.8" wide x 29.5" deep x 31.5" high, seating height 15.7" LITERATURE: The 'P32' lounge chairs are published in :- 'Osvaldo Borsani', Gramigna and Irace, pg. 278-279 Domus, issue number 342, May 1958, , page 15 The 'D32' sofa is published in:- RIVISTA DELL ARREDAMENTO ,issue number 56, 1959 (original full page Tecno advert ) RIVISTA DELL ARREDAMENTO, issue number 115,1964 page 27...
Category

1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Furniture

Materials

Metal, Brass

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1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Furniture

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Osvaldo Borsani furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Osvaldo Borsani furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Osvaldo Borsani furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original furniture by Osvaldo Borsani were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Ico Parisi, Gianfranco Frattini, and B&B Italia. Prices for Osvaldo Borsani furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $330 and can go as high as $397,156, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $7,205.

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