Piero Fornasetti Dish with a St. Bernard Dog, 1950s.
View Similar Items
Piero Fornasetti Dish with a St. Bernard Dog, 1950s.
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 1 in (2.54 cm)Diameter: 5 in (12.7 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Mid-1960s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Downingtown, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: NY81971stDibs: LU86102891272
Fornasetti
The Italian artist, illustrator and furniture maker Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest and most imaginative design talents of the 20th century. He crafted an inimitable decorative style from a personal vocabulary of images that included birds, butterflies, hot-air balloons, architecture and — most frequently, and in some 500 variations — an enigmatic woman’s face based on that of the 19th-century opera singer Lina Cavalieri. Fornasetti used transfer prints of these images, rendered in the style of engravings, to decorate an endless variety of furnishings and housewares that ranged from chairs, tables and desks to dinner plates, lamps and umbrella stands. His work is archly clever, often surreal and always fun.
Fornasetti was born in Milan, the son of an accountant, and he lived his entire life in the city. He showed artistic talent as a child and enrolled at Milan’s Brera Academy of Fine Art in 1930, but was expelled after two years for consistently failing to follow his professors’ orders. A group of his hand-painted silk scarves, displayed in the 1933 Triennale di Milano, caught the eye of the architect and designer Gio Ponti, who, in the 1940s, became Fornasetti’s collaborator and patron. Beginning in the early 1950s, they created a striking a series of desks, bureaus and secretaries that pair Ponti’s signature angular forms with Fornasetti’s decorative motifs — lighthearted arrangements of flowers and birds on some pieces, austere architectural imagery on others. The two worked together on numerous commissions for interiors, though their greatest project has been lost: the first-class lounges and restaurants of the luxury ocean liner Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956.
Fornasetti furnishings occupy an unusual and compelling niche in the decorative arts: they are odd yet pack a serious punch. They act, essentially, as functional sculpture. A large Fornasetti piece such as a cabinet or a desk can change the character of an entire room; his smaller works have the aesthetic power of a vase of flowers, providing a bright and alluring decorative note. The chimerical, fish-nor-fowl nature of Fornasetti’s work may be its greatest strength. It stands on its own. Bringing the Fornasetti look into the future is Barnaba Fornasetti, who took the reins of the company after his father's death.
- Piero Fornasetti Spice Company Dish of a Bill of Sale from the Weikel & SmithBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti ceramic bill of sale tray, Weikel & Smith Spice Company, Philadelphia The 1950s-1960s The large ceramic tray or ashtray depicts a bill of sale from the Weikel &...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsCeramic
- Barnaba Fornasetti Calendar Plate for 2013 with Piero Fornasetti Self PortraitBy FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PABarnaba Fornasetti Calendar Plate for 2013, with Piero Fornasetti Self Portrait, #518 of 700 The plate depicts an image of Piero Fornase...Category
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Vintage Piero Fornasetti Black and White Ashtray of a Roman ChariotBy FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAVintage Piero Fornasetti black and white ashtray of a Roman chariot, 1950-1960s. The Piero Fornasetti Neoclassical ashtray depicts a Roman chariot in black and white.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Oval Dish with Gilt Pipe and Tobacco MotifBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAThe Piero Fornasetti Pip motif oval dish is painted on a dark blue ground with a gilt design of two pipes entwined with tobacco leaves and tied together with a central ribbon. Ref...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsCeramic
- Piero Fornasetti Six Porcelain Gilt Seashell Plates, Conchyliorum Pattern, 1950sBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti porcelain gilt seashell porcelain plates, Conchyliorum pattern, Set of six plates, circa 1950s. The set of plates with a gilt ground and each beautifully decorated ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- 1960 Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Astronomici Plate, #7 in SeriesBy FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PA1960 Piero Fornasetti porcelain plate with number 7 in the Astronomici series. Astronomici means "Astronomics". This is a rare pattern in black and ...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- 1950s Fornasetti Vide Poche / Catchall by Piero Fornasetti, Made in ItalyBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Milano, IT1950s Fornasetti original astonishing porcelain vide poche/catchall "Sonate- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" by Piero Fornasetti . Heavy porcelain construction for use as beautiful desk acc...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsPorcelain
- Porcelain Plates from the Musical Instruments Series by Piero Fornasetti, 1950sBy Fornasetti, Piero FornasettiLocated in MIlano, ITPorcelain plates from the Musical Instruments series by Piero Fornasetti, 1950s with screen-printed and hand-painted decoration. Produced and designed in the 1950s by Piero Fornasetti. Present the brand of the manufacture. This plate are very rare and in very good conditions, probably never used as plate but just to decorations for a living wall or in a kitchen furniture...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
$790 Sale Price20% Off - Piero Fornasetti Tema e Variazioni Porcelain Black and White Large Dish ChargerBy FornasettiLocated in Haddonfield, NJThe Italian artist and illustrator Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest, most imaginative design talents of the 20th Century. He crafted an inimitable decorative style from a personal vocabulary of images that included birds, butterflies, hot-air balloons, architecture and, most frequently, an enigmatic woman’s face. Fornasetti used...Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsPorcelain
$424 Sale Price38% Off - Piero Fornasetti Ashtray, Black and Gilt Compass Rose, Milano, Italy, 1950sBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Stockholm, SEPiero Fornasetti ashtray, black and gilt compass rose, Milano, Italy, 1950s. An everyday object combining function with refined exclusivity and artistic detailing. Placing this ashtr...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsPorcelain
- 1970s Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti for Winston White Ceramic AshtrayBy Fornasetti, Piero FornasettiLocated in Aci Castello, ITA square white ceramic ashtray designed and manufactured by Fornasetti for Winston cigarettes, it features the famous woman's face that we see in many variations of her iconic illust...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ashtrays
MaterialsCeramic
- Piero Fornasetti Posacenere Ore Quotidiano” Ceramica 1950, ItaliaBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Milano, ITPiero Fornasetti Posacenere measure: 24".Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Other Ashtrays
MaterialsCeramic
