Piero Fornasetti for Rosenthal Mesi and Soli Porcelain Plates Pair of Vintage
View Similar Items
Piero Fornasetti for Rosenthal Mesi and Soli Porcelain Plates Pair of Vintage
About the Item
- Creator:Rosenthal (Manufacturer),Piero Fornasetti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 2 in (5.08 cm)Diameter: 10 in (25.4 cm)
- Style:Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:North Miami, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU809815633662
Piero Fornasetti
The Italian artist and designer Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest and most imaginative 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 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 decorative objects to dinner plates, table lamps and umbrella stands. His work is archly clever, often Surrealist 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 Fornasetti's 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 the artist's collaborator and patron. Beginning in the early 1950s, they created a striking 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.
Find vintage Piero Fornasetti dinner plates, chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
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.
- 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
- Fornasetti for Rosenthal Porcelain Gilded Medusa Desert or Salad Plates VintageBy Rosenthal, FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThis set of 4 vintage classic porcelain plates are a collaboration between Fornasetti and Rosenthal. They have the 3 medusas on top centering the sun motif between the sun’s rays and...Category
Vintage 1950s German Classical Roman Porcelain
MaterialsGold
- Vintage Piero Fornasetti Hallmarked Porcelain Rectangle Serving Bowls Pair OfBy Piero FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThis pair of fabulous and hard to find vintage 1960's hallmarked Piero Fornasetti porcelain rectangular serving bowls, appetizer dishes have hand painted vegetables or fruits surroun...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Black Gold Measurement Insulator Paperweight VintageBy Piero FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThis vintage Piero Fornasetti porcelain insulator paperweight is gold with a black background. Italian through and through. It is titled cleverly ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Paperweights
MaterialsGold
- Piero Fornasetti Vintage Gilded Key and Malachite Swirl Porcelain Small TrayBy Piero FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThis unusual vintage Piero Fornasetti small porcelain tray or dish has the motif and subject matter of a gilded key amongst swirls of faux teal gr...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsGold
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain and Gilded Appetizer Bowls Midcentury Barware Set / 6By Piero FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThese fabulous small Mid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti vintage appetizer small serving bowls are porcelain with gilded gold edges, bottom and ins...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Barware
MaterialsGold
- Rosenthal Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plate 12 Mesi 12 Soli Settembre SeptemberBy Piero Fornasetti, RosenthalLocated in München, BYFornasetti porcelain plate for Rosenthal - 12 Mesi 12 Soli. Plate No. 9, Settembre September. No damage. Very good condition. Dimensions: Diameter 10,2"/26cm Depth 1,2"/3cmCategory
Vintage 1980s German Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Mesi & Soli Plates, "12 Mesi, 12 Soli", Twelve SunsBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Porcelain Mesi & Soli Plates, "12 Mesi, 12 Soli", Twelve Suns, Twelve Months, Eight Plates, Mid to Late 1950s. Piero Fornasetti's "12 Mesi 12 Soli" series numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 10, showing the sun as a woman's face and each one representing a different month- May & June. Dimensions: 10-inch diameter x 1-inch high. The Piero Fornasetti Mesi & Soli Pattern Plates are a series of twelve porcelain plates that were designed by the Italian artist Piero Fornasetti in the 1950s. Each plate features a different month of the year, represented by a sun with the face of a woman. The plates are decorated in a whimsical and playful style that is typical of Fornasetti's work. The Mesi & Soli Pattern Plates were inspired by a calendar that Fornasetti created in 1942 for his friend, the Italian publisher Gio Ponti. The calendar featured a series of drawings of the sun with the face of a woman, and Fornasetti later adapted these drawings for the plates. The Mesi & Soli Pattern Plates were first produced in the early 1950s. Mark: Each with Piero Fornasetti printed...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Modern Vintage Duo Set of Espresso Cups Piero Fornasetti for Rosenthal 1980sBy Rosenthal, Piero FornasettiLocated in Vienna, ATModern vintage duo set of Espresso cups from porcelain designed by Piero Fornasetti for Rosenthal 1980s. Stunning duo set of espresso cups ...Category
Late 20th Century European Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Themes & Variations Porcelain Plate, # 27By Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Themes & Variations Plate, Motiv 27, With Original Box, 1980s The Piero Fornasetti Themes & Variation design is made on Rosenthal porcelain....Category
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- MCM Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Themes & Variations Porcelain PlateBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAMid-Century Modern Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Themes & Variations Plate, Motiv 22, With original box, The 1980s From a select group of porcelain plates made by Rosenthal from ...Category
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Themes and Variations Plate, Motiv 28By Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Rosenthal Porcelain Themes And Variations Plate, Motiv Number 28, 1980s The striking Rosenthal Fornasetti gold-rimmed black and white printed plate with the fa...Category
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain