Sculptural Frame by Fontana Arte
View Similar Items
Sculptural Frame by Fontana Arte
About the Item
- Creator:Fontana Arte (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 16.75 in (42.55 cm)Width: 14 in (35.56 cm)Depth: 1 in (2.54 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU119427649423
Fontana Arte
Best known for its elegant and innovative vintage lighting fixtures, the Milan-based firm Fontana Arte pioneered one of the key features of 20th-century and contemporary Italian design: the union of artistry and industry wrought by partnerships between creative talents — chiefly architects — and entrepreneurial businesses. Fontana Arte is further distinguished by having had as artistic director, in succession, four of Italy’s most inventive modernist designers: Gio Ponti, Pietro Chiesa, French transplant Max Ingrand and Gae Aulenti.
The bread and butter of the glassmaking company that Luigi Fontana founded in 1881 was plate-glass panels for the construction industry. In 1930, Fontana met Ponti — then the artistic director of the Richard Ginori ceramics workshop and the editor of the influential magazine Domus — at a biannual design exhibition that became the precursor to today’s Milan Design Triennale, and the two hatched an idea for a furniture and housewares firm. Fontana Arte was incorporated in 1932 with Ponti as its chief of design. He contributed several lamps that remain among the company’s signature works, including the orb-atop-cone Bilia table lamp and the 0024 pendant — a stratified hanging sphere.
The following year, Fontana Arte partnered with the influential Milan studio glassmaker and retailer Pietro Chiesa, who took over as artistic director. Chiesa’s designs for lighting — as well as for tables and items including vases and ashtrays — express an appreciation for fluidity and simplicity of line, as seen in works such as his flute-shaped Luminator floor lamp and the 1932 Fontana table — an arched sheet of glass that is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Six years after Chiesa’s 1948 death, the École des Beaux Arts–trained Max Ingrand took over as head of design at Fontana Arte. Ingrand brought a similarly expressive formal sensibility to wares such as lamps and mirrors, but he also had a masterful eye for the manipulation of glass surfaces — whether they be cut, frosted, acid-etched or sand-blasted. His classic design is the Fontana table lamp of 1954, which has a truncated cone shade and curved body, both of which are made of pure, chic white-frosted glass.
Following Ingrand, the often-audacious Italian architect Gae Aulenti served as the company’s artistic director from 1979 to 1996, and while she generally insisted that furnishings take second place aesthetically to architecture, she made an exception for Fontana Arte pieces such as the Tavolo con Ruote series of glass coffee and dining tables on wheels, bold lighting pieces such as the Parola series and the Giova, a combination flower vase and table lamp. As a key incubator of modern design under Aulenti’s tenure, Fontana Arte remained true to its long-held commitment — creating objects that have never been less than daring.
Find vintage Fontana Arte lighting fixtures such as pendants, table lamps and more on 1stDibs.
- Unique Wall Console by Fontana ArteBy Fontana ArteLocated in Los Angeles, CAUnique wall hanging chiseled glass shelf with brass and wood details by Fontana Arte. Made in Italy circa 1950s.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Shelves and Wall Cabinets
MaterialsBrass
- Mirror by Max Ingrand for Fontana ArteBy Max Ingrand, Fontana ArteLocated in Los Angeles, CARare glass mirror by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte. Made in Milan circa 1950s. Franco Deboni, Fontana Arte: Gio Ponti, Pietro Chiesa, Max Ingrand...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Wall Mirrors
MaterialsGlass, Mirror
- Mirror by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana ArteBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Los Angeles, CARare mirror by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte. Made in Italy circa 1940s. Retains original label. Bibliography: Laura Falconi, Una Storia Transparente, 1998, Skira, pg. 36, 72 S....Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Wall Mirrors
MaterialsBrass
- Illuminated Mirror by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana ArteBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Los Angeles, CAIlluminated mirror by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte with etched glass. Made in Italy circa 1940s.Category
Vintage 1940s Wall Mirrors
MaterialsGlass, Mirror
- Vanity Mirror by Max Ingrand for Fontana ArteBy Max Ingrand, Fontana ArteLocated in Los Angeles, CARare table Mirror with rose colored glass by Max Ingrand. Manufactured by Fontana Arte, Milan, Italy circa 1950s.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Table Mirrors
MaterialsBrass
- Tulip Chair by Pierre GuaricheBy Pierre GuaricheLocated in Los Angeles, CACast aluminium "Tulip" chair by Pierre Guariche. Made in France, circa 1950s.Category
Vintage 1950s Chairs
MaterialsAluminum, Iron
- Fontana Arte Frame Glass Wood, 1950, ItalyBy Fontana ArteLocated in Milano, ITFontana Arte frame glass wood, 1950, Italy.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Other Picture Frames
MaterialsGlass
- Fontana Arte Glass and Brass Picture FrameBy Fontana ArteLocated in Stamford, CTMid-Century Modern Fontana Arte style table top picture frame with spiral brass over glass rods. With a rust colored velvet stand. Beautiful It...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Picture Frames
MaterialsBrass
- No 1371 Picture Frame by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana ArteBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYGlass, brass. Rare horizontal tabletop frame designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte. Elegant polished crystal panels with brass-banded fittings and stand. Vertical version availa...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Picture Frames
MaterialsBrass
- No 1370 Picture Frame by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana ArteBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYGlass and brass. Rare tabletop frame designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte. Elegant polished crystal panels with brass-banded fittings and stand. Horizontal version also availa...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Picture Frames
MaterialsBrass
- Picture Frame Decorative Object Luigi Fontana for Fontana Arte Midcentury 1940sBy Fontana Arte, Luigi FontanaLocated in Palermo, ITDouble Photo frame by Luigi Fontana for Fontana Arte produced in Italy in the 1940s. The multiform photo frame has a wooden structure and decorated and ground glass with metal access...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Picture Frames
MaterialsMetal
$851 Sale Price29% Off - Italian Fontana Arte Brass and Glass Picture FrameBy Fontana ArteLocated in Los Angeles, CAFontana Arte Solid Brass Picture frame with a uniquely designed support, that also is used as the piece that hold the image agains the glass....Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Picture Frames
MaterialsBrass