Lettuce Ettore Sottsass for Memphis-Milano Set of Five Plates
View Similar Items
Lettuce Ettore Sottsass for Memphis-Milano Set of Five Plates
About the Item
- Creator:Memphis Group (Manufacturer),Ettore Sottsass (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 1.19 in (3 cm)Diameter: 11.82 in (30 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 5
- Style:Post-Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1980-1989
- Date of Manufacture:2010s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Shibuya-ku, JP
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU2163311573083
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.
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. They 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's 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 imaginative and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.
It was as an artist that Ettore 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.
Memphis Group
To many people, postmodern design is synonymous with the Memphis Group. This Italian collaborative created the most radical and attention-getting designs of the period, upending most of the accepted standards of how furniture should look.
The Memphis story begins in 1980, when Ettore Sottsass, then a beacon of Italian postmodernism, tapped a coterie of younger designers to develop a collection for the Milan Furniture Fair the next year, determined that all the new furniture they were then seeing was boring. Their mission: Boldly reject the stark minimalism of the 1970s and shatter the rules of form and function. (Sottsass’s Ultrafragola mirror, designed in 1970, embodied many of what would become the collective’s postmodern ideals.)
The group decided to design, produce and market their own collection, one that wouldn’t be restricted by concerns like functionality and so-called good taste. Its debut, at Milan’s 1981 Salone del Mobile, drew thousands of viewers and caused a major stir in design circles.
So as a record of Bob Dylan’s “Stuck Inside of Mobile” played on repeat, they took their name from the song, devised their marketing strategy and plotted the postmodern look that would come to define the decade of excess — primary colors, blown-up proportions, playful nods to Art Deco and Pop art. A high-low mix of materials also helped define Memphis, as evidenced by Javier Mariscal’s pastel serving trays, which feature laminate veneer — a material previously used only in kitchens — as well as Shiro Kuramata’s Nara and Kyoto tables made from colored glass-infused terrazzo.
An image of Sottsass posing with his collaborators in a conversation pit shaped like a boxing ring appeared in magazines all over the world, and Karl Lagerfield furnished his Monte Carlo penthouse entirely in Memphis furniture. Meanwhile, members like Andrea Branzi, Aldo Cibic, Michele de Lucchi, Nathalie du Pasquier, Kuramata, Paola Navone, Peter Shire, George Sowden, Sottsass and his wife, journalist Barbara Radice, went on to enjoy fruitful careers.
Some people think of the Milan-based collective as the design equivalent to Patrick Nagel’s kitschy screenprints, but for others Memphis represents what made the early 1980s so great: freedom of expression, dizzying patterns and off-the-wall colors.
Eventually, the Reagan era gave way to cool 1990s minimalism, and Memphis fell out of fashion. Sottsass left the group in 1985, and by 1987, it had disbanded. Yet decades later, Memphis is back and can be traced to today’s most exciting designers.
“As someone who was born in the 1980s, Memphis at times feels like the grown-up, artsy version of the toys I used to play with,” says Shaun Kasperbauer, cofounder of the Brooklyn studio Souda. “It feels a little nostalgic, but at the same time it seems like an aesthetic that’s perfectly suited to an internet age — loud, colorful and utilizing forms that are graphic and often a little unexpected.”
Find a collection of vintage Memphis Group seating, tables, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Astimelusa Ettore Sottsass for Memphis MilanoBy Ettore SottsassLocated in Shibuya-ku, TokyoAstimelusa by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano vetri collection in 1986.Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Glass
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Ettore Sottsas Tahiti Memphis Milano PostmodernBy Memphis Group, Ettore SottsassLocated in Shibuya-ku, TokyoEttore Sottsass's Tahiti lamp. Materpiece of 1980s design.Category
Vintage 1980s European Post-Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Santa Monica Matteo Thun for Memphis MilanoBy Memphis Group, Matteo ThunLocated in Shibuya-ku, TokyoSanta Monica by Matteo Thun for Memphis Milano. Ceramic pendant lamp. Light is E26 or E27. Shade size is f 30/H 12 cm. cable 120cm.Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsCeramic
$1,300 / item - Piccadilly Table Lamp Gerard Tayler for Memphis MilanoBy Memphis Group, Gerard TaylorLocated in Shibuya-ku, TokyoPiccadilly by Gerard Tayler for Memphis Milano. Light bulb is E14.Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsSteel
- Nefertiti Teapot Matteo Thun for Memphis-Milano Original, 1980sBy Memphis Group, Matteo ThunLocated in Shibuya-ku, TokyoVintage original 1980s Nefertiti tea pot. Red is vintage color which is no longer production now. There is signature on bottom. Designed by Matteo Thun for Memphis Milano.Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Ceramics
MaterialsCeramic
- Tilia Small Box Ettore Sottsass PostmodernBy Marutomi, Ettore SottsassLocated in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo"Tilia" small box designed by Ettore Sottsass for Marutomi. Designed in 1997, Produced in 2000.Category
Early 2000s Japanese Post-Modern Decorative Boxes
MaterialsPlastic
- Lettuce White Ceramic Dinner Plate, by Ettore Sottsass from Memphis MilanoBy Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Lettuce ceramic dinner plate was originally designed by Ettore Sottsass, in 1985, as part of a series of decorative plates. The playful names of th...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsCeramic
- Rucola Ceramic Plate, by Ettore Sottsass from Memphis MilanoBy Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Rucola ceramic dinner plate was originally designed by Ettore Sottsass, in 1985, as part of a series of decorative plates. The playful names of the design items are a reminder of...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsCeramic
- Indivia Ceramic Plate, by Ettore Sottsass from Memphis MilanoBy Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Indivia ceramic dinner plate was originally designed by Ettore Sottsass, in 1985, as part of a series of decorative plates. The playful names of the design items are a reminder o...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsCeramic
- Aldebaran Glass Fruit Bowl, by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano CollectionBy Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Aldebaran Glass Fruit Bowl was designed for Memphis in 1983 by Ettore Sottsass. This bowl features a tapering cylindrical shape with three green handles, with the side decorated ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsGlass
- Murmansk Silver Plated Brass Fruit Bowl, by Ettore Sottsass from Memphis MilanoBy Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoMurmansk Fruit Bowl in Brass with plated Silver. The "Murmansk" is a fruit bowl is one of the first designs produced by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis in 1982. The sleek bowl is plated silver over brass, and sitting on six stepped legs...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Serving Bowls
MaterialsBrass, Silver
- Sol Glass Fruit Bowl, by Ettore Sottsass from Memphis MilanoBy Ettore Sottsass, Memphis Milano, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Sol glass fruit bowl was originally designed by Ettore Sottsass in 1982. Signed on the base, for further information please see authenticity info below. Ettore Sottsass was bo...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Decorative Bowls
MaterialsGlass