A Set of Twelve Vintage Piero Fornasetti Malachite Large Plates

The tromp L'oeil plates are porcelain. At this time Fornasetti used Augsburg porcelain for his work. The designs, each a little different from each other, were produced using a lithographic technique.



It is rare to find a set of these plates. The condition is excellent.



Dimensions: 10 1/4 inches



Mark: A black applique over an underglaze green Augsburg porcelain stamp. The applique in a star form depicts a hand with white text around the edge reading- Fornasetti Milano/Made in Italy.



Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988)



Fornasetti was a Milanese painter, sculptor, interior decorator, engraver of books and a creator of a large number of objects and furniture recognized for their design brilliance. He created a visual vocabulary that is instantly recognizable and unceasingly engaging designing a magical world saturated in image and colour and filled with whimsey and wit.



Provenance: Louis Gartner Estate, Florida



After graduating from Cornell in 1947, Gartner came to New York and became the assistant of the young and brilliantly talented fashion photographer Irving Penn. As Penn’s assistant, Gartner became deeply involved in the world of high fashion and design and became very friendly with the great fashion photographers of the period, forming friendships that would continue for the rest of their lives. The Gartner Photographic Archive includes photographs given to Lou during this period, and over 50 photographs by Penn, Horst, Kertesz, and Beaton are included in the sale.



In 1952, Gartner left Penn’s Studio and went to work for Vogue Magazine, their major client. At Vogue as part of the Conde Nast Group, Gartner eventually moved to House and Garden as an Editor. While there, Gartner authored two classic books on needlepoint design, one of his true passions.