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.
Zanotta Leonardo Working Table in Laminated Top & Natural Varnished Beech Frame
By Achille Castiglioni, Zanotta
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Zanotta Leonardo Working Table in Laminate Top and Natural Varnished Beech Frame by Achille Castiglioni Natural varnished steam-treated beech trest...
Beech
Ettore Sottsas Ospite Table Zanotta Postmodern, 1980s
By Zanotta, Ettore Sottsass
Located in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Ettore Sottsass's Ospite dining table. Designed in 1984 and produced by Zanotta. Painted brier veneer top and three brass silver legs.
Brass
1980s Spanish Bakery Work Table with Steel Legs
Located in Marbella, ES
1980s Spanish bakery work table with steel legs, wooden top and Formica drawers.
Iron
$8,993
H 26.35 in W 61.82 in D 36.23 in
“Leonardo” working Table by Achille Castiglioni for Zanotta, 1969 Italy
By Achille Castiglioni
Located in Tel Aviv-Yafo, Tel Aviv District
Designed in 1969 by Achille Castiglioni for Zanotta, the Leonardo Working Table embodies Castiglioni’s rigorous, user-centered approach to design. Conceived as a flexible working too...
Wood
$4,950Sale Price|41% Off
H 33 in W 43.5 in D 33.25 in
Country English Pastry Shop Potential Kitchen Island, Marble Top All Original
Located in BENSENVILLE, IL
Located just outside the Cotswold’s in England, we were fortunate enough to discover this incredible all original marble topped pastry kitchen island, with an old cream painted wooden frame, with a slatted undertier. Finding old, completely unmolested, all original tables that can be substituted for a modern generic new kitchen island, is something that we, at Old Plank have specialized in for over 30-years. The trick has always been to locate an antique potential kitchen island, that was used commercially, yet finished on all four-sides and if you’re real lucky, it’ll have a marble top. This antique English kitchen island...
Marble
English 19th Century Work Table
Located in Baton Rouge, LA
This stunning work table has a thick 1 ¾” thick pine top and would make a gorgeous kitchen island. Crafted from solid pine and oak, it remains incredibly sturdy and level. The brilli...
Wood, Hardwood
$1,379
H 14.97 in W 27.56 in D 29.53 in
Gae Aulenti Laminate and Purple Metal Italian Coffee Table for Zanotta, 1970s
By Zanotta, Gae Aulenti
Located in Roma, IT
Amazing midcentury laminate and purple enamel metal coffee table. This fantastic piece was designed in Italy by Gae Aulenti for Zanotta during the 1970s. This stunning straight-lined table with a clean enamelled metal frame with a light purple laminate formica top is in a stunning vintage condition. A wonderful item is perfect to complete a mid-century minimal living room...
Crystal, Metal
Customizable Zanotta Bol Table by Zaven
By Zanotta
Located in New York, NY
matt base or metallic/glossy base. many different dimensions and finishes. Table. Hard polyurethane bases matt lacquered in the shades talc, hemp, caramel, algae, amaranth, espresso ...
Lacquer
French Cast Iron and Marble Baker's Table
Located in Pembroke, MA
French cast iron and marble top Baker's table. The marble is white with some veining. The pierced cast iron apron features a stylized acanthus leaf in the front and back, and nice sc...
Marble, Steel, Iron
Rustic Antique American Farmhouse Weathered Work Table
Located in Forney, TX
A one-of-a-kind rustic antique American country work table in original plum - wine paint finish with heavily worn distressed patina! Full of antique character and unique folky charm, featuring primitve hand-crafted farmhouse craftsmanship and solid wooden construction, having a plank boarded top, simple wide apron with pegged detail, rising on distinctive spool-turned Jenny Lind legs terminating in tapering ring-turned feet. This rustic folk art table most likely originating in the Southern United States, handmade during the early/mid-19th century by a farmer, not a formally trained carpenter or furniture maker, adding to the overall antique character, elegant warmth, and rich historical depth. Dimensions: (approx) 33" High, 64" Wide, 31" Deep Provenance / Acquisition: Acquired from reputable auction house Bright Star Antiques Co., Sulfur Springs, Texas. May 2022 Session 1.5 catalog. Founded on generations of experience in rare antiques and furnishings, Bright Star has been specializing in rare American country antiques and architectural elements for over 25 years. Condition: Beautiful age, weathered patina and attractive faded mellow coloring. Heavily worn, naturally distressed, chippy paint, losses, warping, slight wobble, substantial wear and tear consistent with age and use. Not overly strong or sturdy, but certainly functional and delivered ready for immediate use. Jenny Lind’s Legs? Johanna Maria Lind (Sweden; 1820–1887) spent many nights in the U.S. during her wildly popular concert tour, presenting an opportunity for furniture makers to claim that P.T. Barnum’s Swedish Nightingale rested in one of their beds. Celebrity endorsements—sanctioned or not—had been found to boost sales, and 19th-century entrepreneurs had little aversion to stretching the truth. By the time she returned to Europe, Jenny Lind’s name or likeness had been affixed to riding hats, cigars, dolls, perfume, and more. Still, the association between spool-turned beds and the name “Jenny Lind” appears to be a 20th-century phenomenon, likely an attempt to conjure a connection to simpler times after the fact. Several bits of folklore connect the opera star with specific beds. The most widespread asserts that Philadelphia furniture manufacturer George J. Henkels placed a special bed—actually, a carved Rococo piece with a side canopy—in Lind’s hotel, and later gave it to her as a gift or, in a divergent ending, vowed to name it after her. A second story centers on a common, early 19th-century mahogany spool bed...
Wood, Paint
Vintage Industrial Accordion Table
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Custom built industrial accordion table features glass on top of a wood table top, accordion base that easily closes, on a set of caster wheels. Ple...
Metal
Architect James D'auria Industrial Table
By James D'Auria
Located in North Miami, FL
Amazing Industrial steel dining or work table; The table frame is of very high and heavy quality by renowned Architect, James D'Auria. Wheels lock to keep it in place, steel cable st...
Iron
$9,600Sale Price|20% Off
H 32.5 in W 65.75 in D 32.25 in
Vintage Industrial Granite and Cast Iron Table
Located in Oakville, CT
Beautiful cast iron base from an old printing factory in original condition, showing detailed artwork topped with a piece of Vermont granite.
Iron
Sold
H 30.71 in W 78.75 in D 39.18 in
Achille Castiglioni for Zanotta Adjustable Table ‘Leonardo’ in Blond Wood
By Achille Castiglioni, Zanotta
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Achille Castiglioni for Zanotta, adjustable desk ‘Leonardo’, beech, laminated wood, Italy, design 1969. Italian architect and designer Achille Castiglioni (1918-2002) designed the ‘...
Beech
Sold
H 28.35 in W 78.75 in D 39.38 in
Italian Mid-Century White Wooden Work Table by Minale Simpson for Zanotta, 1980s
By Zanotta
Located in MIlano, IT
Italian mid-century White wooden work table by Minale and Simpson for Zanotta, 1980s Work table with rectangular top in white formica. The top rests on a wooden structure consisting...
Formica, Wood
Sold
H 27.37 in W 118.12 in D 49.22 in
1950s Italian Bramante Beech Dining Work Studio Table by Castiglioni for Zanotta
By Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Zanotta
Located in Sherborne, Dorset
An opportunity to buy a rare and substantially sized ‘2630 Bramante’ trestle table originally designed in 1950 by Achille & Pier Giacomo Castiglioni for ...
Beech