Surrealist Plate By Fornasetti
View Similar Items
Surrealist Plate By Fornasetti
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Designer),Rosenthal (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 1 in (2.54 cm)Width: 9.25 in (23.5 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1980s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Sagaponack, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: 100491stDibs: LU8903896745
Fornasetti
The Italian artist, illustrator and furniture maker 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.
- Set of Six Petite Plates by Piero FornasettiBy FornasettiLocated in Sagaponack, NYA set of six (6) plates in the original box with designs by Fornasetti.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sculptures
MaterialsCeramic
$1,800 / set - Norwegian Enameled Steel BowlBy Leif Wessman AssociatesLocated in Sagaponack, NYA graphic and elegant shallow enamel over polished stainless steel bowl. Originally distributed by Knoll International.Category
Vintage 1960s Norwegian Scandinavian Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsSteel
$350 / item - Norwegian Enameled Steel BowlBy Leif Wessman AssociatesLocated in Sagaponack, NYA graphic and elegant shallow enamel over polished stainless steel bowl. Originally distributed by Knoll International.Category
Vintage 1960s Norwegian Scandinavian Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsSteel
$350 / item - 1980s Grace Kelly Glass Plate by Andy Warhol for RosenthalBy Andy Warhol, RosenthalLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn Andy Warhol silkscreen on Rosenthal studio glass featuring the portrait of Grace Kelly.Category
Vintage 1980s American Platters and Serveware
MaterialsGlass
- 1930s Nickel-Plated 'Libbiloo' Circus Horse Bookends by Russel WrightBy Russel WrightLocated in Sagaponack, NYAn early pair of nickel-plated, fanciful 'Libbiloo' circus horse bookends by Russel Wright, designed in 1928. Each marked RW.Category
Vintage 1930s American Mid-Century Modern Bookends
MaterialsMetal, Nickel
- 1960s Silver Plated Brass Tea Pot by Tommi Parzinger for Dorlyn SilversmithsBy Dorlyn Silversmiths, Tommi ParzingerLocated in Sagaponack, NYA silver plated brass tea pot with walnut handle and beautiful patina.Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Pitchers
MaterialsSilver, Brass
- Ceramic Julia Dinner Plate by Fornasetti for RosenthalBy Rosenthal, FornasettiLocated in Atlanta, GAA "Julia" porcelain plate with surrealism designs by Piero Fornasetti for Rosenthal, an iconic series from 'Temi e variazioni' (“Themes and Va...Category
Late 20th Century German Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsCeramic
- Ceramic Julia Dinner Plate by Fornasetti for RosenthalBy Rosenthal, FornasettiLocated in Atlanta, GAA "Julia" porcelain plate with surrealism designs by Piero Fornasetti for Rosenthal, an iconic series from 'Temi e variazioni' (“Themes and Va...Category
Late 20th Century German Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsCeramic
- Ceramic Julia Dinner Plate by Fornasetti for RosenthalBy Rosenthal, FornasettiLocated in Atlanta, GAA "Julia" porcelain plate with surrealism designs by Piero Fornasetti for Rosenthal, an iconic series from 'Temi e variazioni' (“Themes and Va...Category
Late 20th Century German Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsCeramic
- Fornasetti Porcelain Surrealist Themes & Variation Plate, #260By FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAFornasetti porcelain Surrealist Themes & Variation plate #260, The Snail, Atelier Fornasetti The Fornasetti porcelain plate in the Themes & Variation pattern depicts a surreal depic...Category
Early 2000s Italian Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Fornasetti Surrealist Themes & Variations Plate, #18, Fornasetti, "Circles"Located in Downingtown, PAFornasetti Porcelain Themes & Variation Plate, #18, Circles, Atelier Fornasetti With original box. The Fornasetti porcelain plate in the Themes & Variation pattern depicts a de...Category
Early 2000s Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Saint Matthew Ceramic Plate by FornasettiBy FornasettiLocated in London, LondonCeramic plate By Fornasetti Gilt and monochrome printed Italy 1970s.Category
Late 20th Century Italian Dinner Plates
MaterialsCeramic