Mid Century Modern dish by Fornasetti (1913-1988)

Name: Mid Century Modern dish by Fornasetti (1913-1988)
Brand: Piero Fornasetti
Price: 263.03 USD
Availability: InStock

About the Item

Unusual early plate by Pierro Fornasetti. This design is no longer in production and relates to his early work but is not a theme he later continued into production. In 1945 he advertised Camus' tragedy Caligula and this is th closest reference to this motif in which he advertises Le Scala Opera House in Milan. The origins of the company lie in the activity of the art printworks that Piero Fornasetti opened in Milan in the 1930s. A crucial moment for the foundation of the company was the meeting between Piero Fornasetti and Gio Ponti, in the 1940s, which led to the opening of the Atelier Fornasetti. One of the first successes of the company, and its collaboration with Ponti, was the Architettura trumeau, which was then exhibited at the IX Milan Triennale in 1951, and is now included in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.At the end of the 1960s the cultural climate changed, with a decline in decoration in favor of rationalism and function over form.[3] Fornasetti struggled to align himself with the new logic of the market and industrial production.[3] The difficulties encountered in this period also led to a cooling in relations with Ponti, who reproached Fornasetti for being unable to reinvent himself.[3] Fornasetti decided to give continuity to his work with other instruments and forms of expression. He continued to drive the work of his atelier and broadened the scope of his activities to include the cultural sphere. In 1977, together with a group of friends, he ran the Galleria dei Bibliofili, where he exhibited both his own work and that of contemporary artists. In the early eighties Piero Fornasetti began to work with his son Barnaba who now runs the company.

Creator:

Piero Fornasetti (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 1.19 in (3 cm)Width: 8.47 in (21.5 cm)Depth: 5.12 in (13 cm)

Style:

Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Ceramic

Place of Origin:

Italy

Period:

1950-1959

Date of Manufacture:

circa 1950s

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. Some areas of gilding around the sides have areas of wear consistent with age and use. No cracks or chips.

Seller Location:

London, GB

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU985631524072

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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.