Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
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 (1953). Borsani would be the firm’s lead designer for 30 years, while fostering work by Vico Magistretti, Carlo di 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.
1980s Italian Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary British Modern Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Gold Leaf, Bronze
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Onyx, Marble
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Glass
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Bronze
2010s Greek Modern Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Marble
20th Century Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Bronze
Early 20th Century German Arts and Crafts Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Brass
Early 20th Century Portuguese Baroque Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Brass, Bronze
Early 20th Century French Empire Revival Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Marble, Bronze
1650s Italian Renaissance Antique Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Bronze
19th Century French Antique Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Bronze
1930s French Art Deco Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Decorative Objects
Onyx, Bronze