Alaska Vase, Memphis Milano
View Similar Items
Alaska Vase, Memphis Milano
About the Item
- Creator:Ettore Sottsass (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 11.82 in (30 cm)Diameter: 5.91 in (15 cm)
- Style:Post-Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1980-1989
- Date of Manufacture:1982
- Condition:Minor fading.
- Seller Location:Cologne, DE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU98248207933
Ettore Sottsass
An architect, industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, Ettore Sottsass led a revolution in the aesthetics and technology of modern design in the late 20th century.
Sottsass was the oldest member of the Memphis Group — a design collective, formed in Milan in 1980, whose irreverent, spirited members included Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Michael Graves and Shiro Kuramata. All had grown disillusioned by the staid, black-and-brown “corporatized” modernism that had become endemic in the 1970s. Memphis (the name stemmed from the title of a Bob Dylan song) countered with bold, brash, colorful, yet quirkily minimal designs for furniture, glassware, ceramics and metalwork. They mocked high-status by building furniture with inexpensive materials such as plastic laminates, decorated to resemble exotic finishes such as animal skins. Their work was both functional and — as intended — shocking. Even as it preceded the Memphis Group's formal launch, Sottsass's iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell and radical pops of pink neon — embodies many of the collective's postmodern ideals.
Sottsass's most-recognized designs appeared in the first Memphis collection, issued in 1981 — notably the multihued, angular Carlton room divider and Casablanca bookcase. As pieces on 1stDibs demonstrate, however, Sottsass is at his most imaginative and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.
It was as an artist that Ettore Sottsass was celebrated in his life, in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 2006, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art a year later. Even then Sottsass’s work prompted critical debate. And for a man whose greatest pleasure was in astonishing, delighting and ruffling feathers, perhaps there was no greater accolade. That the work remains so revolutionary and bold — that it breaks with convention so sharply it will never be considered mainstream — is a testament to his genius.
- Alaska Silver Plated Brass Flower Vase, by Ettore Sottsass from Memphis MilanoBy Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Alaska Silver Plated Brass Flower Vase was originally designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1982. The vase is also available in solid 925 sterling silve...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Planters, Cachepots and Jar...
MaterialsSilver Plate, Brass
- Memphis Milano Ceramic Vase Maya by Luciano Florio Paccagnella, 1990sBy Florio Keramia, Luciano Florio PaccagnellaLocated in Debrecen-Pallag, HU"Luciano Florio Paccagnella is a Memphis Group hero that has been forgotten by history. He designed the first invitation cards for the Memphis Group. Paccagnella was discovered by Matteo Thun after finishing his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts at Brera in Milan. He was introduced to Ettore Sottsass in the 1970s, which lead to his founding of a graphic arts company with designers Marco Zanini and Aldo Cibic. Ettore Sottsass thought very highly of Paccagnella’s work and considered him one of the best air brush designers in Europe. The reverence was reciprocal: Paccagnella was so inspired by the geometric shapes and pop colors of Sottsass's Yantra vases...Category
1990s Hungarian Post-Modern Vases
MaterialsCeramic
- Memphis Milano Style Handmade Ceramic Vase Made by Wilma Van Der PLocated in Doornspijk, NLThis ceramic vase is actually composed of two vases riveted together, having each their own shape, color and style. One is triangular matte black and handleless and only glazed on th...Category
Late 20th Century Dutch Post-Modern Vases
MaterialsCeramic
- Volga White Vase, by Matteo Thun from Memphis MilanoBy Memphis Milano, Memphis Group, Matteo ThunLocated in La Morra, CuneoVolga Vase for one flower in decorated white porcelain, was originally designed in 1983 by Matteo Thun for Memphis Milano. Born 1952 in Bolzano, Italy. Matteo Thun studies under Os...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
MaterialsPorcelain
$1,526 / item - Titicaca Porcelain Vase, by Matteo Thun from Memphis MilanoBy Memphis Milano, Memphis Group, Matteo ThunLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Titicaca porcelain vase was originally designed by Matteo Thun in 1982, winks an eye to the largest lake in South America, its design follows a line of experimentation with a dis...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
MaterialsPorcelain
- Tigris Porcelain Vase by Ettore Sottsass from Memphis MilanoBy Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe "Tigris" porcelain vase, comprised of stacked, spouted and coiled forms covered in powder blue, white and black glazes, Memphis Milano collection. The Tigris Vase was originally ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vases
MaterialsPorcelain