Ettore Sottsass Ceramic Bowl for Bitossi
About the Item
- Creator:Ettore Sottsass (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 7.09 in (18 cm)Diameter: 8.47 in (21.5 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1968
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Weesp, NL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1464220370442
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. He was a wild man of the Radical Design movement that swept Italy in the late 1960s and ’70s, rejecting rationalism and modernism in favor of ever-more outrageous imaginings in lighting and furniture such as mirrors, lamps, chairs and tables.
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.
The Memphis Group 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 created innovative furnishings for the likes of Artemide, Knoll, Zanotta and Poltronova, where he reigned as artistic director for nearly two decades beginning in 1958. His 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 inspired and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.
Sottsass left the Memphis Group in 1985 in order to concentrate on the growth of Sottsass Associati, a design and architecture consultancy he cofounded in 1980.
It was as an artist that 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.
Find Ettore Sottsass lighting, decorative objects and furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Shipping from: Weesp, Netherlands
- Return Policy
More From This Seller
View All1990s Japanese Modern Centerpieces
Crystal
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Crystal Serveware
Stainless Steel
Vintage 1930s Italian Art Deco Ceramics
Ceramic
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Centerpieces
Blown Glass
1990s Italian Post-Modern Dining Room Tables
Laminate, Wood
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Barware
Stainless Steel
You May Also Like
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Decorative Bowls
Clay
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
Glass
2010s Italian Centerpieces
Ceramic
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Serving Bowls
Marble
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Centerpieces
Resin
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
Ceramic
Read More
Paloma Elsesser’s Home Features This Ettore Sottsass Table
The Italian designer’s oeuvre extends beyond the iconic Ultrafragola mirror.
Ettore Sottsass Captures a Shooting Star in This Rare 1970s Floor Lamp
Before founding the Memphis Group, Sottsass bent the rules of lighting design with the wonderfully wavy Cometa.