Piero Fornasetti for Ronsethal Plate
View Similar Items
Piero Fornasetti for Ronsethal Plate
About the Item
- Creator:Piero Fornasetti (Designer),Rosenthal (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 1 in (2.54 cm)Diameter: 10.5 in (26.67 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU813822133152
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.
Rosenthal
While the Rosenthal Porcelain Factory grew from humble decorating roots — as many pottery companies do — it eventually built a list of universally revered designer and artist partners that included Andy Warhol and Salvador Dalí. And after securing an enviable position as a top manufacturer of serveware and dominating the porcelain and bone china markets, Rosenthal expanded into furniture production, working with influential designers Verner Panton, Luigi Colani and Günther Ferdinand Ris and Herbert Selldorf.
German-born Jewish businessman Philipp Rosenthal founded the company in 1879 in Bavaria. It began as his modest workshop where he painted porcelain and encountered success with porcelain ashtrays. Rosenthal hired the best designers and clay modelers he could find. Adolf Oppel designed figurative Art Nouveau pieces, while Eleonore (Lore) Friedrich-Gronau produced decorative objects, namely her graceful porcelain dancer figurines, for the company.
Dinnerware, though, would be a Rosenthal mainstay. Between 1904 and 1910, Rosenthal produced its renowned dinnerware lines such as Donatello, Darmstadt and Isolde. These were introduced as unornamented white pieces — only later were they given their underglaze designs.
Rosenthal founder Philipp, a Catholic of Jewish ancestry, resigned in 1934 as the company’s president due to pressures owing to discriminatory German laws that took shape during the rise of the Nazi regime. Rosenthal died in 1937, and the family fled to America. The company would not regain its footing until 1950 when Rosenthal’s son, Philip, joined the firm and, in 1958, became chairman and dubbed Germany’s “China King.” At its peak, the company had 10,000 employees.
In the 1950s, Rosenthal’s modernist dinnerware was a significant part of the brand’s offerings, and by 1961 they introduced the famed Rosenthal Studio Line. Although furniture designers and ceramicists would lead the list of individuals working with Rosenthal — among them Tapio Wirkkala, Max Weber and Lisa Larson — the company eventually reached out to fine artists, not only Dalí and Warhol but Sandro Chia and Kenny Scharf. Rosenthal also collaborated with fashion designers Gianni Versace and Donatella Versace.
In a daring move in 1972, the company diversified into furniture, collaborating with some of the giants of mid-century modern design. The revolutionary Sunball chair, an icon of Space Age seating crafted by Selldorf and Ris, was among Rosenthal’s stellar successes in this venture.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Rosenthal ceramics, porcelain, tableware, seating and more.
- Vintage Piero Fornasetti Plates from the " Tema E Variazioni" SeriesBy Piero FornasettiLocated in New York, NYVintage Piero Fornasetti plates from the " Tema e Variazioni" series depicting the fictional character, Giulia, in a variety of creative ways. Sold individually-price per plate. C...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
MaterialsCeramic
- Vintage Piero Fornasetti Plates from the "Istrumenti Musicali" SeriesBy Piero FornasettiLocated in New York, NYVintage 1950s hand painted Piero Fornasetti plates from the " Instrumenti Musicali" series depicting string musical instruments. Sold individua...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Magazine StandBy Piero FornasettiLocated in New York, NYMagazine stand designed and manufactured by Piero Fornasetti in the 1950s. Lithographic transfer print depicting a basket of colorful flowers. Has brass legs and a center handle. Ori...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsBrass
$2,100 Sale Price40% Off - Vintage Piero Fornasetti Tray and Stand with Butterfly MotifBy Piero FornasettiLocated in New York, NYRemovable Piero Fornasetti tray with a foldable stand. Screen printed butterfly motif. Original label on the back of the tray. Condition: Excellent vintage condition, minor wear c...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Tray Tables
MaterialsMetal
- Fontana Arte Center Piece or Wall Decoration by Dube’By Fontana Arte, Duilio Dubé BernabeLocated in New York, NYFontana Arte center piece made by Italian artist Dube’ in the 1950s representing a red lily with gold accents. He created the piece by back painting a curved glass and then etching i...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Art
MaterialsGlass
$3,900 Sale Price40% Off - Purple Murano Glass Bowl, Italy, 1960sLocated in New York, NYItalian Mid-Century bowl made out of thick purple Murano glass handblown in Venice. Condition: Excellent vintage condition, minor wear consistent with age and use. Diameter: 10” H...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Calandar Plate for 1969By Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Calendar Plate for the Year 1969, The design of the 1969 Fornasetti porcelain calendar plate depicts a bunch of gr...Category
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Calendar Porcelain Plate for the Year 1989By Piero FornasettiLocated in Brussels, BEPiero Fornasetti calendar porcelain plate for the year 1989.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Calendar Porcelain Plate for the Year 1997By Piero FornasettiLocated in Brussels, BEPiero Fornasetti calendar porcelain plate for the year 1997Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Vintage Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Astrolabe PlateBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAVintage Piero Fornasetti astrolabe plate, Numbered #7 in Series 1960s-mid 1970s. The Piero Fornasetti porcelain plate depicts an astrolabe in a ...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Astronomici Plate, #4 in SeriesBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAAstronomici means Astronomics. This is a rare pattern in black and white with gold highlights. Mark: A moon and sun within a circle with smiling faces with scattered stars and th...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- 1970 Piero Fornasetti "Libra" Zodiac Porcelain Plate Made for CorisiaBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Libra Zodiac Porcelain Plate Made for Corisia in 1970. The plate in black and gold depicts the astrological sign Libra with words, i...Category
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain