Piero Fornasetti Dinner Plate Giostra da Frutta, Plate No 2
View Similar Items
Piero Fornasetti Dinner Plate Giostra da Frutta, Plate No 2
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 0.79 in (2 cm)Diameter: 10.04 in (25.5 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1959
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Klintehamn, SE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3904311672601
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.
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain "Recipe" Plates Mid-Century Modern Set of ThreeBy FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThese delightful hallmarked set of three Italian Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti recipe plates are amusing and unusual. One is for stuffed crown roast or frankfurters, the other ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Classical Roman Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Sezioni Di Frutta Dessert Plate, No 4 for TiffanyBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Porcelain Sezioni Di Frutta Dessert Plate, No 4 in Series, Made for Tiffany, 1960s The tromp l"oeil porcelain plate depicts a section o...Category
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Tema e Variazioni Porcelain Black and White Large Dish ChargerBy FornasettiLocated in Haddonfield, NJThe Italian artist and illustrator Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest, 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, an enigmatic woman’s face. Fornasetti used...Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsPorcelain
$424 Sale Price38% Off - Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Sezioni Di Frutta Desert Plate, No 12 for TiffanyBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Porcelain Sezioni Di Frutta Dessert Plate, No 12 for Tiffany, Circa 1970 The tromp l"oeil porcelain plate depicts a section of fruit, a pear, on a white backgr...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Astrolabe Porcelain Plate, 1967By FornasettiLocated in Atlanta, GAA porcelain plate designed by Piero Fornasetti as no,3 of the twelves-piece set of the Astrolabe series between 1965-1976. The series each depicts an Astrolabio, an elaborate inclino...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Astrolabe Porcelain Plate 1968By FornasettiLocated in Atlanta, GAA porcelain plate designed by Piero Fornasetti as no.4 of the twelves-piece set of the Astrolabe series between 1965-1976. The series each depicts an Astrolabio, an elaborate inclino...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsPorcelain