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.
$2,052Sale Price|25% Off
Arnaldo Pomodoro Bronze Sculpture for Borsani, Fixed on a Table Lamp, 1985-2021
By Osvaldo Borsani, Arnaldo Pomodoro
Located in Rome, IT
Arnaldo Pomodoro bronze sculpture "medaglia" for Tecno, bronze signed on verso "A Pomodoro" and inscribed " Osvaldo Borsani 1985 Atelier Stefano J...
Bronze
$7,828 / item
H 18.51 in Dm 15.75 in
'Cosmic Solstice Ore' Table Lamp, Handmade Bronze Patinated Brass Table Light
By Eva Menz for Atelier001
Located in London, England
Taking inspiration from planetary shapes and textures, the Cosmic collection artfully explores the interplay of metal properties and a curated selection of patina finishes. Handcra...
Brass
Art Deco Table Lamp Sculpture
Located in Antwerp, BE
An Art Deco sculpture with three deer on a marble base. Measures: Width:43 cm. Depth:15 cm. Height:37 cm. Weight:10 kg.
Onyx, Marble
Ceramic and Glass Table Lamp Sculpture, France, circa 1900
Located in Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Ceramic and glass table lamp sculpture. France, circa 1900.
Glass, Ceramic
$713Sale Price / item|20% Off
H 9.06 in W 3.94 in D 3.94 in
Particle Table Lamp by on.entropy, in Seamless White Marble and Bronze
By on entropy
Located in Athens, GR
In Particle table lamp, on.entropy mines the modern design potential of this classical material, by transforming the austerity of raw marble into a warm and...
Marble
Petit-Monsigny Art Deco Ibis Sculpture Table Lamp, 1920
By A. Petit Monsigny
Located in Saint-Amans-des-Cots, FR
French Art Deco Bronze Sculpture Table Lamp by Adolphe Petit-Monsigny, circa 1920. An exceptional French Art Deco table lamp, circa 1920, showcasing a stunning bronze sculpture by th...
Alabaster, Bronze
Vintage Bronze Table Lamp with Bird on Turtle on Pen shell Base
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Bronze table lamp depicting a bird standing on a turtle. Base is a free form shape covered in pen shell.
Bronze
$4,720Sale Price / set|58% Off
H 29.5 in W 14 in D 14 in
Pair of French Bronze Antique Putto Sculpture Candelabra Lamps, circa 1870-1890
Located in Shippensburg, PA
SUPERB PAIR OF DORÉ AND PATINATED BRONZE SEVEN-LIGHT CANDELABRA WITH PUTTO FIGURALS France, circa 1870-1890 Item # 007LTX30A An incredibly fine pair of ...
Bronze
Georges Tribout Bronze Figural Table Lamp
By George-Henri Tribout
Located in Bridgewater, CT
Georges Henri Tribout (1884-1962). French Art Deco table Lamp in patinated bronze, depicting a seated nude woman holding the reflector cone, mounted on a two-tiered onyx base, Sign...
Onyx, Bronze
Art Deco Female Bronze Table Lamp Signed by Fayral
By Pierre Le Faguays
Located in North Bergen, NJ
Beautiful Art Deco bronze table lamp signed by Fayral. Having female bronze on black marble base. The sculpture has two glass spheres on either side of her that illuminate.. Incredib...
1930s Hagenauer Style Art Deco Cat Sculpture Table Lamp
By Werkstätte Hagenauer Wien
Located in Vienna, AT
A unique Art Deco table lamp in the shape of a cat in the manner of Werkstatte Hagenauer Vienna. Made in the 1930s in Czechoslovakia. Nickel-plated metal, in very good condition.
Metal
Vintage Aquamarine Glass Menhir Sculpture Table Lamp, 1950s
Located in Florence, IT
Vintage Aquamarine Glass Menhir Sculpture table lamp with led light. The Menhirs (from the Breton men and hir "long stone"; in Italian also "pietrafitta") are monolithic megaliths. ...
Glass
Theodore Waddell 7+ Table Lamp Sculpture
By Theodore Waddell
Located in Toronto, Ontario
A beautiful Waddell table lamp for Zanotta Italy ca. 1969. These pieces are functional as well as decorative in a sculptural form. Rare Italian modern design. This example has 1...
Metal