Rare Set of Eight Mongolfiere Plates by Fornasetti
View Similar Items
Rare Set of Eight Mongolfiere Plates by Fornasetti
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 1.19 in (3 cm)Diameter: 9.45 in (24 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 8
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1955
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Piacenza, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU103166286863
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.
- Midcentury eight lights chandelier by Arredoluce, Italy 1950sBy ArredoluceLocated in Piacenza, ItalyStunning Arredoluce chandelier eight lights, original solid brass structure with original vintage patina. Italy 1950sCategory
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Rare chandelier by Fontana ArteBy Fontana ArteLocated in Piacenza, ItalyScreens of glazed white diffuser glass mounting of shiny nickel-plated brass. Extremely rare and elegant chandelier by Fontana Arte. Published. Bibl: "Novità 1967 Fontana Arte",...Category
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern More Lighting
MaterialsGlass
$9,675 Sale Price20% Off - Midcentury set of 4 sconces by Hans-Agne JakobssonBy Hans-Agne JakobssonLocated in Piacenza, ItalyExtraordinary set of 4 stunning wall lights designed by Hans-Agne Jakobsson. Produced by Hans-Agne Jakobsson AB in Sweden. Brass support with light smoked glass.Category
Vintage 1960s Swedish Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass
$7,476 Sale Price / set20% Off - Set of Six "Leggera" Chairs by Gio PontiBy Gio PontiLocated in Piacenza, ItalyExtraordinary set of six original "Leggera" chairs designed by Gio Ponti. Iconic chair in early edition, newly reupholstered in green blue cotton. Manufactured by Cassina, model 64...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood
$7,476 Sale Price / set20% Off - Set of 8 mod. Rennie by Kazuhide Takahama for Simon Gavina, 1970By Kazuhide Takahama, Simon Gavina EditionsLocated in Piacenza, ItalyStunning set composed by 8 chairs designed by Kazuhide Takahama and produced for Simon Gavina. Original lacquered wood structure with leather cover and seat. Perfect vintage conditi...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Set of midcentury Italian Wall Lights by Franco Albini for Sirrah, 1968By Franca Helg, Antonio Piva and Franco Albini, SirrahLocated in Piacenza, ItalyStunning wall lights model AS3C Designed by Franco Albini, Franca Helg e Antonio Piva. Produced by Sirrah in Italy, circa 1968-1971. The light can be mounted with the lampshade facin...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsGlass
- Set of Eight Fornasetti Coasters with 'Coins' Decoration form 1960sBy FornasettiLocated in Milano, MISet of 8 coasters by Fornasetti in silk-screened porcelain, with "Monete" decoration made for Banca Unione Milano in the 1960s. The series was given as a gift by the bank to its cust...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Platters and Serveware
MaterialsCeramic
- 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
- 1980s Plates, Set of 8 Vintage Plates by Piero Fornasetti, 1980sBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Roma, IT1980s Plate, Calendar series is a set of 8 silk-screened porcelain plate, designed by Piero Fornasetti during the 1980s from the Calendario series, the Happy New Year dishes series. Good conditions. Black and white ceramic Fornasetti wall plate...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Platters and Serveware
MaterialsPorcelain
- Emporers Plates by Atelier Fornasetti, 1940s, Set of 4Located in Montelabbate, PUAtelier Fornasetti Rare set of 4 plates with Emperor profiles printed on round gilded medals. Signed by Atelier Fornasetti,made in Italy in the 1940s.Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Platters and Serveware
MaterialsCeramic
- 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
- 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