1960s Two Sets of Italian Design Piero Fornasetti Adam and Eve Coasters
View Similar Items
1960s Two Sets of Italian Design Piero Fornasetti Adam and Eve Coasters
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 0.25 in (6.35 mm)Diameter: 4.13 in (10.5 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Very good vintage condition.
- Seller Location:Palm Springs, CA
- Reference Number:Seller: 000404400C001stDibs: LU104669689823
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.
- Rare Handmade Set of 10 Stoneware Tumblers by Gordon and Jane Martz for MarshallBy Gordon MartzLocated in Palm Springs, CARare set of 10 stoneware tumblers created by Gordon and Jane Martz. They measure 5 5/8" in height by 3 1/8" in diameter and all re signed Martz. In very good vintage condition. The ...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsStoneware
$943 Sale Price / set34% Off - Rare Xavier Cugat Set of Six Hand Painted Mambo Tango Dancers Drinking GlassesLocated in Palm Springs, CARare, 1950s set six of hand painted drinking glasses drawn by bandleader extraordinaire, Xavier Cugat. Glasses measure 5.75" in height by 2.75" diameter a...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsGlass
$550 Sale Price / set26% Off - Pentti Sarpaneva Glass Bronze Turun Hopea Punch Bowl Ladle Cups Cream Sugar SetBy Pentti SarpanevaLocated in Palm Springs, CAPunch bowl with ladle, cups and cream and sugar set designed and created by Pentti Sarpaneva for Turun Hopea, circa 1960's. Mold blown glass with polished edges, bronze foot and han...Category
Vintage 1960s Finnish Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsGlass, Blown Glass
$492 Sale Price45% Off - 1970s James Wayne Organic California Modern Studio Glass GobletsBy James WayneLocated in Palm Springs, CA1970s smoked glass organic goblets made by California glass blower, James Wayne. Wayne taught at U.S.C. and San Jose City College and exhibited at t...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Glass
MaterialsBlown Glass
$635 Sale Price / set20% Off - Jens H Quistgaard for Dansk Danish Modern Staved Teak Ice BucketBy Jens QuistgaardLocated in Palm Springs, CADanish modern staved teak ice bucket designed by Jens Quistgaard for Dansk, Denmark. Bucket measures 15.75" by 8" by 7.25" and is fully signed on the bottom. In very good vintage 19...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsTeak
$360 Sale Price20% Off - Large Kenji Fujita for Freeman Lederman Ceramic Coffee Pot PitcherBy Kenji FujitaLocated in Palm Springs, CACeramic coffee pot or pitcher with raffia handle designed by Kenji Fujita for Freeman Lederman. Pitcher measures 11.5" by 7.5". In very good origin...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
$600 Sale Price20% Off
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Coaster Reclining "Adam” 7 of 8, 1965, Mid-centuryBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Brooklyn, NYPlate number 7 from the quite rare and sought after of Fornasetti 1960’s design series, Adamo & Eva (1965). Compared to his much more severe standing “Adam" of a decade earlier, this...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsPorcelain
$276 Sale Price20% Off - Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Coaster Reclining "Adam” 2 of 8, 1965, Mid-centuryBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Brooklyn, NYPlate number 2 from the quite rare and sought after of Fornasetti 1960’s design series, Adamo & Eva (1965). Compared to his much more severe standing “Adam" of a decade earlier, this...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsPorcelain
$276 Sale Price20% Off - Piero Fornasetti "Mitologia" Cocktail or Glass Coasters, Set of EightBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Haddonfield, NJPiero Fornasetti "Mitologia" set of 8 bar or drink coasters, circa 1970's. This stylish set of cocktail coasters were produced exclusively for the New York City department store Bonw...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsPorcelain
$499 Sale Price / set20% Off - Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Coasters Il Mondo Alla Rovescia Midcentury Set of 8By Piero FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThese theatrical vintage Piero Fornasetti complete set of 8 hand painted very colorful porcelain coasters and or small plates are Mid-Century Modern. They are for an opera and in translation of English for the opera mean Topsy Turvy. Great barware. These are not common. They come in their original round gold box...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsPorcelain, Paint
- Piero Fornasetti Set of Eight Quand on Arrive Clock Coasters, When One ArrivesBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Set of Eight "Quand on Arrive" Clock Coasters, "When one arrives" Early 1960s. These charming early Piero Fornasetti large coasters, each with a clock face and ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsCeramic
- Set of Twenty Four Early Piero Fornasetti Adam and Eve Porcelain PlatesLocated in Benington, HertsA fine set of “Adam and Eve” lithographic transfer printed plates designed in 1954. Italy Milan - Adamo set of 12 plates circa 1980’s Italy Milan - Eva set of 12 plates circa 1950/60’s These were originally part of a private collectors who has kept them in amazing condition. The Eva plates are very rare as thought to be some of the first to have been produced. Each plate having printers maker’s marks with leaf and title, numbered 1 to 12 on each set. Both sets in mint condition ideal for a serious collector. PIERO FORNASETTI (1913 - 1988)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...Category
20th Century Italian Ceramics
MaterialsPorcelain