Piero Fornasetti "Mitologia" Cocktail or Glass Coasters, Set of Eight
View Similar Items
Piero Fornasetti "Mitologia" Cocktail or Glass Coasters, Set of Eight
About the Item
- Creator:Piero Fornasetti (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 0.5 in (1.27 cm)Diameter: 2.7 in (6.86 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 8
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Haddonfield, NJ
- Reference Number:Seller: 348681stDibs: LU943428139702
Piero Fornasetti
The Italian artist and designer Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest and most imaginative 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 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 decorative objects to dinner plates, table lamps and umbrella stands. His work is archly clever, often Surrealist 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 Fornasetti's 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 the artist's collaborator and patron. Beginning in the early 1950s, they created a striking 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.
Find vintage Piero Fornasetti dinner plates, chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
More From This Seller
View All20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
Porcelain
Early 20th Century English Barware
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Barware
Glass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
Mirror, Lucite
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
Brass
Antique Mid-19th Century German Louis XVI Barware
Silver
You May Also Like
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
Porcelain, Paint
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Barware
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
Ceramic
