Zanotta Lighting
Entrepreneur Aurelio Zanotta founded Zanotta in 1954 in Nova Milanese, Italy. Originally called Zanotta Poltrona, it specialized in traditional furniture. By the early 1960s, however, Zanotta had established a reputation for edgy mid-century modern design. Today’s vintage furniture collectors know the brand well for its innovative and wholly sculptural chairs, coffee tables and more.
One of Zanotta’s earliest successes was the Mezzadro stool — better known as the Tractor stool — designed by Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and his brother Achille in the late 1950s. In 1965, Zanotta was among the first furniture companies to work with expanded polyurethane foam and frameless construction, such as for the Throw-Away sofas and armchairs designed by Willie Landels. Another popular design was the Blow chair — designed by Jonathan De Pas, Donato D’Urbino, Paolo Lomazzi and Carla Scolari — viewed by many as a physical expression of late '60s carefree culture.
In 1969, amid the provocative movement we now call Italian Radical Design, Zanotta’s Sacco chair garnered major attention. The boundary-pushing beanbag chair was the brainchild of designers Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro who presented it to Aurelio Zanotta as a transparent vinyl sack loosely filled with small polystyrene balls. He suggested its signature brightly colored leather.
The Sacco chair won the 1970 ADI Design Museum’s Compasso d’Oro award. In 1972, the Museum of Modern Art in New York included it in the landmark exhibition “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” curated by designer Emilio Ambasz. In 2020, it received a Compasso d’Oro ADI Lifetime Achievement Award for 50 years of enduring popularity. It is now in museum collections around the world including the Triennale Design Museum of Milan, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.
After Aurelio Zanotta died in 1991, the company remained in his family and has been run by his three children since 2002. Zanotta continues to set the bar high for furniture design with trend-setting pieces.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage Zanotta seating, tables and other furniture.
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Travertine
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Aluminum
20th Century Mid-Century Modern Zanotta Lighting
Travertine
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Zanotta Lighting
Stainless Steel
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Metal
1970s Czech Mid-Century Modern Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Metal
Early 2000s Italian Modern Zanotta Lighting
Aluminum
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Chrome
1970s Swedish Scandinavian Modern Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Glass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Plastic
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Brass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Metal
1960s Italian Space Age Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Metal
1970s Italian Vintage Zanotta Lighting
Laminate
