Set of Six Rare Piero Fornasetti Fish Plates, Pesci
View Similar Items
Set of Six Rare Piero Fornasetti Fish Plates, Pesci
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 1.25 in (3.18 cm)Diameter: 9.25 in (23.5 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 6
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1955
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Downingtown, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: NY8177A1stDibs: LU86102581852
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 Strumenti Musicali Ceramic Plates, Set of SixBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Strumenti Musicali Plates, set of six The plates each depict a different selection of stringed instruments including ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Fish Plates, Pesci pattern or Passage of FishBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPair of rare Piero Fornasetti Fish Plates, Pesci pattern or Passage of Fish, Numbered # 2 & 3, circa 1960s The porcelain plates depict two diff...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain
- Piero Fornasetti Pottery Plate, Sezioni Di Frutta, #6, 1960sBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Pottery Plate, Sezioni Di Frutta, #6 1960s. The stunning Piero Fornasetti Pottery Plate depicts a cut red pepper from the Sezioni Di Frutta series. Mark: Hand and ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dinner Plates
MaterialsPottery
- Piero Fornasetti Set of Six Strumenti Musicali Plates, 1950s-1960sBy FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti set of six strumenti musicali plates 1950s-1960s. The plates each depict a different selection of stringed instruments including guitars and lutes on a faux bois...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ceramics
MaterialsCeramic, Pottery
- Bristol Delftware Set of Six Polychrome Chinoiserie Scalloped Plates, 1760Located in Downingtown, PAWonderful set of six Bristol delftware polychrome Chinoiserie scalloped plates, Redbank Back Factory, Circa 1760 The plates have a most appealing, br...Category
Antique Mid-18th Century Dutch Rococo Dinner Plates
MaterialsDelft
- Dutch Delft Set of Six Dinner Plates with Plants and RibbonLocated in Downingtown, PADutch delft set of six dinner plates with plants and ribbon The charming set of six Dutch delft plates are painted with scattered green and orange plant...Category
Antique Mid-18th Century Dutch Georgian Dinner Plates
MaterialsCeramic, Delft, Pottery
- Piero Fornasetti Rare Vintage Matador & Bull Porcelain Dinner Plates Set of SixBy FornasettiLocated in North Miami, FLThese wonderful hard to find and hard to come by complete set of RARE wonderful bullfight black and white vintage Mid-Century Modern porcelain dinner plates are the genius work and i...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
$4,640 Sale Price / set20% Off - 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
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Astrolabe Plate, Number 5By FornasettiLocated in Oud Beijerland, NLThe Piero Fornasetti porcelain plate depicts an astrolabe, it is number five of twelve in series. This is a very rare edition with the special mark on the back side "La Production I...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Pottery
MaterialsCeramic
- Calendar Plate from 1977 by Piero FornasettiBy FornasettiLocated in London, LondonCeramic plate By Piero Fornasetti For Rosenthal Piatto calendario of 1977.Category
Late 20th Century Italian Dinner Plates
MaterialsCeramic
- Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Set of 8 Gilted Astrolabe PlatesBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Paris, FRPiero Fornasetti 1913-1988 lived and worked in Milano and he was very fond of science. This series normally is composed of 12 designs about astrolabe or "Astrolabos" in Greece which ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Dinner Plates
MaterialsPorcelain