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Osvaldo Borsani Desks and Writing Tables

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 (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.

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Item Ships From: USA
Creator: Osvaldo Borsani
Italian Midcentury Desk by Osvaldo Borsani
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Italian large executive desk designed by Osvaldo Borsani, manufactured by Tecno Milano in Italy, circa 1950. This eye-catching desk has a unique design with the integrated drawer t...
Category

1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Wood

20th Century Italian Rosewood Writing Desk by Osvaldo Borsani & Paolo Buffa
By Paolo Buffa, Osvaldo Borsani
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A dark-brown, vintage Mid-Century Modern Italian half-round writing desk with a clear glass top, made of hand crafted polished Rosewood, designed ...
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Osvaldo Borsani Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Rectangular Dining Table by Osvaldo Borsani
By Osvaldo Borsani, Arredamenti Borsani
Located in New York, NY
Back-painted glass, brass, walnut. Can easily be used as a dining, entry, or writing table. A rare model.
Category

1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Exectutive Desk by Osvado Borsani for Tecno, Italy, 1950s
By Osvaldo Borsani, Tecno
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Large executive table desk designed by Oslavdo Borsani for Tecno, Italy, 1950s. Double pedestal base is brushed aluminum and shows minor oxidation...
Category

1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Aluminum

Osvaldo Borsani Desk
By Osvaldo Borsani, Atelier Borsani Varedo
Located in New York, NY
7-drawer desk by Osvaldo Borsani for ABV. Rosewood, maple, brass. Curved desk finished on both sides. A variant of an earlier model that originally covered in parchment and designed ...
Category

1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Brass

Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno Desk, circa 1950s
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in St.Petersburg, FL
A classic and rare, circa 1950s Osvaldo Borsani for Tecno desk with teak top.
Category

1950s Italian Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Desks and Writing Tables

Materials

Steel

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Osvaldo Borsani and Eugenio Gerli for Tecno, dining table 'T102', lady onyx marble, brass-plated steel, Italy, 1964 The designers Borsani and Gerli created an outstanding piece of furniture together that deserves a prominent place in one's living room. Designed for Italian manufacturer Tecno, this dining room table originates from 1964. The tabletop owns its intricate appearance due to the lady onyx marble with its expressive grey veins alternated by pink hues. In addition, the brass base carries a concave construction that gently remind of organic occurring dynamics. Osvaldo Borsani (1911-1985) was an Italian designer and architect, raised by a family of fine furniture makers in Varedo. At the age of 16, he joined his father’s furniture shop, the Atelier di Varedo, which was fully engaged in designing and furnishing homes inspired by the Italian Art Deco movement. The designer of the atelier was the Italian architect Gino Maggioni (1898-1955) who was known for his Viennese Jugendstil orientation of the early 20th century. In the 1930s, he graduated from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera and Politecnico di Milano, where he studied Fine Arts and Architecture respectively. In 1932, the family company was renamed ‘Arredamenti Borsani’ and opened its first studio in Milan. During this period, he encountered Avant-Garde artists of various artistic disciplines like Lucio Fontana (1899-1968), Agenore Fabbri (1911-1998), Aligi Sassu (1912-2000), Roberto Crippa (1921-1972), Fausto Melotti (1901-1986), Arnaldo Pomodoro (1926-) and Giò Pomodoro (1930-2002). These collaborations resulted in the creation of furniture and interior design projects with a high-level of craftsmanship and artistry. In 1953, Borsani founded together with his twin brother Fulgenzio Borsani ‘Tecno’, a design and manufacturing company that produced items based on mechanical innovations and refined technicality. The ‘P40’ adjustable lounge chair (1953) has become the ideological manifesto of Borsani's Tecno program, and still remains the best known, exemplary piece in the Tecno catalogue. Other iconic works that were produced by Tecno were created by Gio Ponti (1891-1979), Vico cham...
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Model T333 desk produced in 1975 from a design by Osvaldo Borsani and Eugenio Geri and manufctured by Tecno. The top is black lacquered walnut with an inset area of black leather. There are two minimal slim drawers, perfect for storage of pens etc and polished cast aluminium legs. with black trim. Manufacturer's label to side. This large and impressive desk with its minimal, sophisticated design would work well in both a modern or contemporary home. Literature: Giam Piero Bosoni, T Tecno L'eleganza discreta della tecnico, was established in 1953 the twin brothers Osvaldo and Fulgenzio Borsani with the goal of developing their father’s furniture company, Arredamenti Borsani, using the industrial process for the manufacturing of modern furniture. The history of the company goes back to the early 1920s, when woodworker and upholsterer Gaetano Borsani founded Atelier Borsani Varedo (later called Arredamenti Borsani Varedo) in Varedo, Italy. In spite of Arredamenti Borsani’s traditional approach, Osvaldo, designed the modernist Casa Minima furniture collection, while still attending architecture school at Accademia di Brera, and he won the silver medal at the V Triennale di Milano in 1933. Osvaldo’s ongoing involvement at the atelier continued to grow as he designed and built modernist furniture for the wealthy Milanese society. In 1954, a year after Tecno’s founding, the company unveiled its first factory-produced collection of sofas, chairs and tables and received accolades at the X Triennale di Milano. That same year, Osvaldo created the adjustable D70 sofa bed, which became an instant commercial success, and in 1956 he launched the P40 lounge chair, an adjustable reclining chair...
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Osvaldo Borsani Boomerang Desk
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Osvaldo Borsani Rosewood Desk
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Osvaldo Borsani Dining Table
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Osvaldo Borsani desks and writing tables for sale on 1stDibs.

Osvaldo Borsani desks and writing tables are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of wood and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Osvaldo Borsani desks and writing tables, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original desks and writing tables 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 desks and writing tables by Gianfranco Frattini, Ico Parisi, and Franco Albini. Prices for Osvaldo Borsani desks and writing tables can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $1,997 and can go as high as $36,000, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $7,950.

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