Mid-Century Modern Fontana Arte Green Glass Squared Italian Ashtray, 1960s
View Similar Items
Mid-Century Modern Fontana Arte Green Glass Squared Italian Ashtray, 1960s
About the Item
- Creator:Fontana Arte (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 0.67 in (1.7 cm)Width: 4.73 in (12 cm)Depth: 4.73 in (12 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Roma, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3067319747002
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.
- Pair of Fontana Arte Midcentury Green Crystal Glass Squared Italian AshtraysBy Fontana ArteLocated in Roma, ITTwo Incredible Mid-Century Modern square green glass ashtrays. These wonderful pieces were produced by Fontana Arte in Italy during the 1960s. ...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsCrystal
$788 Sale Price / set20% Off - Fontana Arte 1970s, Ashtray in Leather, Brass and Faceted Glass, Italy Art GlassBy Fontana ArteLocated in Roma, ITFontana Arte 1970s. Ashtray in leather, brass and faceted glass.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsGlass
$508 Sale Price33% Off - Midcentury Pietro Chiesa Carved Crystal Glass Italian Ashtray for Fontana ArteBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Roma, ITAmazing midcentury carved crystal glass ashtray. This wonderful item was designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte in Italy during 1960s. This piece is unique as it has two carved sides and two straight ones and tone of the crystal, that is a very elegant water marine. A perfect bowl to complete a midcentury-style living room or entrance. Measures (cms): width - 20 depth - 20 height - 2 Pietro Chiesa (1892-1948) was an Italian designer who specialised in modernist and Art Deco designs. Chiesa was one of the founding members of FontanaArte which was established in 1932, and as its artistic director, he designed hundreds of items ranging from furniture to objets d’art. A member of the Swiss Ticino family of artists, Chiesa is best known for his glass furnishing pieces, such as the Fontana table. Fontana Arte (established in 1933) was founded by Luigi Fontana, Gio Ponti, and Pietro Chiesa as a premier producer and marketer of furniture, lighting, and furnishing accessories, and distignuished itself applying the highest standards of glass craftsmanship and techniques. Throughout Fontana Arte’s history, its lamps and furniture have been highly sought after due to their superior glass craftsmanship and innovative design. Saint-Gobain Invests in Luigi Fontanta e Compagni The origins of Fontana Arte go back to 1881, when Luigi Fontana established Luigi Fontana e Compagni to produce and market sheet glass for the construction industry. Luigi’s success as an entrepreneur in the growing Italian construction sector attracted the attention of the French glass-making company Saint-Gobain, which, in 1910, took a majority stake in the ownership of Luigi Fontana e Compagni transforming it into a “Società Anonima” still under the direction of Luigi Fontana. By the mid-1920s, Fontana e Compagni’s capabilities included the creation of artistic stained glass that was mostly used in functional and decorative settings of churches and cathedrals. Gio Ponti Becomes Fontana e Compagni’s Artistic Director In just a few years, the production of such artistic stained-glass products had become of such importance that a different division within the Fontana e Compagni was created to further its development. In 1930, Luigi Fontana met the successful young Milanese architect Gio Ponti, who was then the art director of Richard-Ginori pottery company, and they formed a partnership, under the name of Luigi Fontana SA, for the production of light fixtures, furniture, and furnishing objects. During this initial period, Gio Ponti designed from Fontana Arte the now-iconic 0024 Pendant light (1931) and the Bilia Table Lamp (1931). Pietro Chiesa, Gio Ponti, and Luigi Fontana Found Fontana Arte In 1932, Gio Ponti approached Pietro Chiesa to join him and Luigi Fontana and to become Luigi Fontana SA’s artistic director. In 1933, Pietro Chiesa merged his studio, the Bottega di Pietro Chiesa, with Fontana SA, and together Luigi Fontana, Gio Ponti, and Chiesa founded Fontana Arte. During Chiesa’s tenure as artistic director, Fontana Arte’s production became rich and varied. It included furniture, tables, mirrors, sculptures, and stained glass, but it was certainly in the lighting sector where Fontana Arte excelled by creating lamps and lights with the highest standards in glass craftsmanship and modern designs. From this period came the Luminator floor lamp, the Cartoccio glass vase, and the Fontana Arte table made out of a single band of bent clear glass, (all designed by Pietro Chiesa, in 1932); and the Naska lamp...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsCrystal
$648 Sale Price20% Off - Mid-Century Modern Gilded Brass and Black Iron Italian Ashtray, 1950sBy Mathieu MatégotLocated in Roma, ITAmazing Mid-Century Modern gilded brass and black iron ashtray. This fantastic piece was designed in Italy during the 1950s. This astonishing piece is going to be loved by the mix...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Tobacco Accessories
MaterialsBrass, Iron
$657 Sale Price20% Off - Midcentury Squared White Travertine Marble Italian Ashtray After Mannelli, 1970sBy Fratelli MannelliLocated in Roma, ITElegant midcentury squared white travertine marble ashtray. This fantastic piece was designed in Italy during the 1970s after Fratelli Mannelli. This wonderful item took inspirati...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Tobacco Accessories
MaterialsTravertine, Marble
$425 Sale Price20% Off - Aqua Green Murano "Bullicante" Glass Bowl or Ashtray, Italy, Barovier 1960By Barovier&TosoLocated in Roma, ITStunning round bowl or ashtray made in a gorgeous aquamarine Murano glass using the "bullicante" technique. This unique piece is attributed to the mastery of Barovier & Toso and was ...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsBlown Glass, Glass, Murano Glass, Art Glass
- Squared Ashtray Green Crystal Glass by Fontana Arte Italy 1960sBy Fontana ArteLocated in Rome, ITMid-Century Modern square green glass ashtray. This wonderful piece was produced by Fontana Arte in Italy during the 1960s. It is composed of ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsCrystal
- Large Cenedese Italian Sommerso Murano Glass Ashtray, Italy 1960´sBy CenedeseLocated in Buenos Aires, OlivosLarge Cenedese Italian Sommerso Murano glass ashtray. Italy 1960´s Utilizing the Sommerso technique this large, heavy piece of glass features an unusual design. It looks like a sec...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Tobacco Accessories
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Mid-Century Modern Murano Seguso Styled Amethyst Art Glass Cigar AshtrayBy Angelo SegusoLocated in Hamilton, OntarioThis Mid-Century Modern unique art glass cigar ashtray is unsigned, but presumed to have been made in Murano Italy in circa 1965 in the style of Angelo Seguso. The body of the ashtra...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Tobacco Accessories
MaterialsArt Glass
- Lancel tennis Ashtray, France, 1960sLocated in Paris, FRTennis ashtray by Lancel , France 1960's.Category
Vintage 1960s French Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsMetal
- Vintage Edith Heath Mid-Century Modern Large AshtrayBy Heath Ceramics, Edith HeathLocated in North Hollywood, CAVintage Mid-Century Modern ceramic ashtray by Edith Heath Mid-Century Modern large vintage pottery ashtray by Edith Heath for Heath Ceramics....Category
Mid-20th Century American Organic Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsPottery, Ironstone, Stoneware, Ceramic
- Mid Century Modern California Studio Pottery Ashtray by Heath CeramicsBy Edith Heath, Heath CeramicsLocated in San Jose, CAVintage stoneware studio pottery ashtray designed by Edith and Brian Heath for Heath Ceramics of Sausalito, California. Features a two-tone contrasting ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Tobacco Accessories
MaterialsCeramic, Pottery, Stoneware
