Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
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.
1950s Other Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Goatskin, Walnut
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Wood, Burl
1970s Scandinavian Scandinavian Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Maple, Rosewood, Burl, Macassar
1930s Italian Art Deco Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Wood
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Walnut, Wood
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Bronze
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Mahogany
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Musical Instruments
Metal, Brass
