Early Themes and Variations Ceramic Plate #64, Piero Fornasetti Italy circa 1960
View Similar Items
Early Themes and Variations Ceramic Plate #64, Piero Fornasetti Italy circa 1960
About the Item
- Creator:Piero Fornasetti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 0.4 in (1 cm)Diameter: 10.24 in (26 cm)Length: 0.4 in (1 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1960
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:Seller: CG004341stDibs: LU2936321718202
Piero Fornasetti
The Italian artist and illustrator 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.
- Vintage Set of Seven Ceramic Storage Jars by Piero Fornasetti, Italy, circa 1960By Piero FornasettiLocated in London, GBA rare set of beautifully colored decorative ceramic storage jars by Piero Fornasetti, circa 1960. Depicting seven different designs... tea, coffee, rice, paprika, cloves, cinnamon and pepper, these vintage...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
MaterialsCeramic
- Piero Fornasetti Vintage Ceramic Storage Jars, Italy, circa 1960By FornasettiLocated in London, GBA wonderful collection of three ceramic storage jars designed by Piero Fornasetti, circa 1960. These highly decorative pieces feature hand-coloure...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Jars
MaterialsCeramic
- Piero Fornasetti 'Capitello Ionico' Chair in Black and White, Italy, circa 2006By Piero FornasettiLocated in London, GBA wonderful 'Capitello Ionico' or 'Ionic Capital' wooden chair designed by the great Piero Fornasetti. Originally designed in the 1980, this particular chair is numbered #24 from a v...Category
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood, Lacquer
- Piero Fornasetti ‘Soriano’ Cat Umbrella Stand, ItalyBy Piero FornasettiLocated in London, GBA fabulous light-colored version of the tromp l’oeil Tabby cat umbrella stand designed by Piero Fornasetti. Originally designed in the 1950s, this piece is from a more recent, very l...Category
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Umbrella Stands
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of 'Maschere' (Masks) Bookends by Piero Fornasetti, Italy, circa 1950By Piero FornasettiLocated in London, GBA rare and beautiful pair of 1950s 'Maschere' (Masks) bookends designed by the incomparable Piero Fornasetti. The bookends each depict a Greek theatrical mask, (tragedy), and are exe...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bookends
MaterialsMetal
- Fornasetti ‘Alsatian Dog’ Umbrella StandBy FornasettiLocated in London, GBA wonderfully fun umbrella stand by the creative designer, Piero Fornasetti. One of many dogs that Piero featured on his umbrella stands, this example portrays an Alsatian dog...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Umbrella Stands
MaterialsMetal
- Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Themes & Variations Porcelain Plate, # 27By Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Themes & Variations Plate, Motiv 27, With Original Box, 1980s The Piero Fornasetti Themes & Variation design is made on Rosenthal porcelain....Category
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- MCM Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Themes & Variations Porcelain PlateBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAMid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Themes & Variations Plate, Motiv 22, With original box, The 1980s From a select group of porcelain plates made by Rosenthal from ...Category
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Themes and Variations Plate, Motiv 25By Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Themes And Variations Plate, Motiv Number 25, Lady Bacchus, 1980s Wonderful rare example of the small range of plates made by Rosenthal in the 1980s from Piero Fornasetti designs. This one depicts the face of Lina Cavalieri as a female Bacchus. These plates are sometimes called Julia plates...Category
Vintage 1980s German Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Themes and Variations Plate, Motiv 28By Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Themes And Variations Plate, Motiv Number 28, 1980s The striking Rosenthal Fornasetti gold-rimmed black and white printed plate with the fa...Category
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Plate, Themes & Variations, Motiv 19By Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAVintage Rosenthal Fornasetti Temi E Variazioni porcelain plate, Themes & Variations, Motiv 19, 1980s. The striking gold-rimmed black and white printed plate depicts a nude fema...Category
Vintage 1980s German Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Themes & Variations Plate, Motiv 27By Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Rosenthal porcelain themes & variations plate, Motiv 27, 1980s The Piero Fornasetti Themes & Variation design is made on Rosenthal porcelain. The pattern, Motiv ...Category
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain