20th Century Fontana Arte Pendant by Pietro Chiesa
View Similar Items
20th Century Fontana Arte Pendant by Pietro Chiesa
About the Item
- Creator:
- Dimensions:Height: 39.4 in (100.08 cm)Diameter: 11.8 in (29.98 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:ca. 1950
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:West Palm Beach, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1622210998021
Stilnovo
Though Bruno Gatta (1904–76) founded Stilnovo way back in 1946, it is still one of the most instantly recognizable names in lighting. Gatta began his business in Milan, and, like many European creatives designing furniture and decor in the wake of World War II, Stilnovo leaned toward the new wave of mass-market and streamlined styles. In fact, Stilnovo loosely translates to “new style” in Italian, and vintage Stilnovo lighting has endured as a practical choice for those looking to bring innovative and forward-thinking design into their homes.
Soon after Stilnovo was established, Gatta’s lighting fixtures were applauded throughout Europe for their novel industrial materials as well as their unique yet functional shapes. Italy in the 1950s was forming a completely revolutionized look, and Bruno Gatta and Stilnovo’s head designer, Angelo Gaetano Sciolari, helped shape it. When the 1960s arrived, Stilnovo was experiencing such a boom that the company opened a new production plant in Lainate. One of the brand’s most famous pieces, Giovanni Luigi Gorgoni’s quirky 1965 Buonanotte spherical table lamp, became a best seller.
Gatta partnered with some of the most well-known names in design, including Ettore Sottsass, Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Joe Colombo and Gae Aulenti. Sottsass’s pieces for Stilnovo, including the 1977 Valigia four-legged table lamp, the 1968 Lampros chandelier and Manifesto ceiling light, and the Castiglionis’ 1957 Saliscendi pendant light fixtures are some of the brand’s most recognizable to date. In 1978, De Pas, D’Urbino and Lomazzi designed the Fante lamp with an adjustable reflector that playfully recalls a broad-brimmed hat.
Stilnovo’s designs, including Danilo and Corrado Aroldi’s flexible Periscope table lamp, were featured in the 1972 exhibition “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” at the Museum of Modern Art. While Stilnovo continued to operate with new designer collaborations after Gatta’s death, it closed its doors in 1988. Italian art director Massimo Anselmi acquired the company in 2012 and rereleased several of Stilnovo’s most celebrated pieces. Then in 2019, lighting giant Linea Light Group purchased Stilnovo and relaunched its classic designs with contemporary touches like LED lighting systems.
Find vintage Stilnovo chandeliers and pendants, wall lights, floor lamps and other fixtures and furniture on 1stDibs.
Fontana Arte
Best known for its elegant and innovative vintage lighting fixtures, the Milan-based firm Fontana Arte pioneered one of the key features of 20th-century and contemporary Italian design: the union of artistry and industry wrought by partnerships between creative talents — chiefly architects — and entrepreneurial businesses. Fontana Arte is further distinguished by having had as artistic director, in succession, four of Italy’s most inventive modernist designers: Gio Ponti, Pietro Chiesa, French transplant Max Ingrand and Gae Aulenti.
The bread and butter of the glassmaking company that Luigi Fontana founded in 1881 was plate-glass panels for the construction industry. In 1930, Fontana met Ponti — then the artistic director of the Richard Ginori ceramics workshop and the editor of the influential magazine Domus — at a biannual design exhibition that became the precursor to today’s Milan Design Triennale, and the two hatched an idea for a furniture and housewares firm. Fontana Arte was incorporated in 1932 with Ponti as its chief of design. He contributed several lamps that remain among the company’s signature works, including the orb-atop-cone Bilia table lamp and the 0024 pendant — a stratified hanging sphere.
The following year, Fontana Arte partnered with the influential Milan studio glassmaker and retailer Pietro Chiesa, who took over as artistic director. Chiesa’s designs for lighting — as well as for tables and items including vases and ashtrays — express an appreciation for fluidity and simplicity of line, as seen in works such as his flute-shaped Luminator floor lamp and the 1932 Fontana table — an arched sheet of glass that is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Six years after Chiesa’s 1948 death, the École des Beaux Arts–trained Max Ingrand took over as head of design at Fontana Arte. Ingrand brought a similarly expressive formal sensibility to wares such as lamps and mirrors, but he also had a masterful eye for the manipulation of glass surfaces — whether they be cut, frosted, acid-etched or sand-blasted. His classic design is the Fontana table lamp of 1954, which has a truncated cone shade and curved body, both of which are made of pure, chic white-frosted glass.
Following Ingrand, the often-audacious Italian architect Gae Aulenti served as the company’s artistic director from 1979 to 1996, and while she generally insisted that furnishings take second place aesthetically to architecture, she made an exception for Fontana Arte pieces such as the Tavolo con Ruote series of glass coffee and dining tables on wheels, bold lighting pieces such as the Parola series and the Giova, a combination flower vase and table lamp. As a key incubator of modern design under Aulenti’s tenure, Fontana Arte remained true to its long-held commitment — creating objects that have never been less than daring.
Find vintage Fontana Arte lighting fixtures such as pendants, table lamps and more on 1stDibs.
- 20th Century Italian Fontana Arte Crystal Glass Chandelier by Pietro ChiesaBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA vintage Mid-Century Modern Italian chandelier made of a brass structure and hand blown crystal glass, enhanced by partially etched details, featured with three light sockets. Designed by Pietro Chiesa and produced by FontanaArte in good condition. The wires have been renewed. Wear consistent with age and use, circa 1940, Milan, Italy. Measures: light fixture: 13.5” H Pietro Chiesa was an Italian designer born in 1892, in Milan, Italy and passed away in 1948, Paris, France. Chiesa finished his apprenticeship in the studio of the furniture designer, interior decorator Giovan Battista Gianotti in Milan. Chiesa comes from an artistic family, he opened his own glass making studio, Botega di Pietro Chiesa in 1921, Milan. Chiesa concentrated mainly on designing glass, he treated glass like a valuable material. Fontana Arte is an Italian lighting and design company founded in 1931, Milan, Italy. Founded by the two well-known Italian architect and designers Giovanni Ponti...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsCrystal, Metal, Brass
- 20th Century Italian Fontana Arte Crystal Glass Chandelier by Pietro ChiesaBy Fontana Arte, Pietro ChiesaLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA large vintage Art Deco Italian chandelier, ceiling light made of hand crafted brass and partially etched, hand blown smoked crystal glass, designed by Pietro Chiesa and produced by FontanaArte, in good condition. The wires have been renewed. Wear consistent with age and use. Circa 1930 - 1950, Milan, Italy. Pietro Chiesa was an Italian designer born in 1892, in Milan, Italy and passed away in 1948, Paris, France. Chiesa finished his apprenticeship in the studio of the furniture designer, interior decorator Giovan Battista Gianotti in Milan. Chiesa comes from an artistic family, he opened his own glass making studio, Botega di Pietro Chiesa in 1921 Milan. Chiesa concentrated mainly on designing glass, he treated glass like a valuable material. Fontana Arte is an Italian lighting and design company founded in 1931 Milan, Italy. Founded by the two well-known Italian architect and designers Giovanni Ponti...Category
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass, Metal
- 20th Century Italian Fontana Arte Sandblasted Opal Glass Pendant by Max-IngrandBy Max Ingrand, Fontana ArteLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA vintage Mid-Century Modern French, Italian pendant, chandelier made of hand blown sandblasted opal glass and brass, designed by Max-Ingrand and produced by FontanaArte in good condition. The ceiling lamp, light is hanging, supported by two polished brass arms, imitating a ventilator. The satin-finish ground glass diffusers, shades are open, featuring a four light socket. The wires have been renewed. Wear consistent with age and use. circa 1940 - 1950, Milan, Italy. Fixture: 2" H Maurice Max-Ingrand, better known as Max Ingrand was a French artist, designer and decorator born in 1908 in Bressuire, France and passed away in 1969 Paris. Ingrand studied in Paris at the French University École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs. During this time, he was educated by the well-know French glass artists Jaques Grüber and Charles Lemaresquier. In 1937, he participated in designing the church windows of the Notre-Dame de Paris. During 1954 - 1967, Ingrand was the artistic director of the Italian design company FontanaArte. FontanaArte is an Italian lighting and design company founded in 1931 Milan, Italy. Founded by the two well-known Italian architect and designers Giovanni Ponti...Category
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsOpal, Metal, Brass
- 20th Century Italian Opaline Glass Chandelier - Vintage Pendant by StilnovoBy StilnovoLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA gold-white, vintage Mid-Century Modern Italian chandelier, pendant made of hand crafted polished brass, designed and produced by Stilnovo in good condition. The small round sputnik...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- 20th Century Italian Murano Glass Pendant, Chandelier by Seguso Vetri D’ArteBy Seguso Vetri d'Arte, Archimede SegusoLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA vintage Mid-Century Modern Italian pendant made of hand blown clear Murano glass, designed and produced by Archimede Seguso and Seguso Vetri D’Arte, in good condition. The detailed...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- 20th Century Italian Vintage Glass Coffee Table by Gae Aulenti & Fontana ArteBy Fontana Arte, Gae AulentiLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA vintage Mid-Century Modern coffee table ( tavolo con route ) from Gae Aulenti, the original for Fontana Arte, with glass top and swivel wheels in good condition. The Italian indust...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsGlass, Rubber
- Suspension Light by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana ArteBy Fontana Arte, Pietro ChiesaLocated in Los Angeles, CASuspension light by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte. Designed and manufactured in Italy, circa 1940s. Glass, metal, brass. Original canopy. Custom brass ceiling plate. Wired for U.S. ...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Ceiling Light by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana ArteBy Fontana Arte, Pietro ChiesaLocated in Los Angeles, CACeiling Light by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte. Designed and manufactured in Italy circa 1940. A timeless and sculptural ceiling light with signature Fontana Arte glass detailing and enameled brass dome...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte Rare ChandelierBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYPietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte rare and important chandelier with lacquered brass structure including six flower shaped socket holders and intricate floral motif decorations, large b...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Italian Midcentury Modern Brass & Glass Pendant by Pietro Chiesa & Fontana ArteBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYElegant, timeless Italian Mid-Century Modern Neoclassical brass and sanitized glass chandelier / pendant by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte, circa 1935-1940. The piece features a uni...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
$7,900 Sale Price20% Off - Midcentury Italian Patinated Brass Fontana Arte Pendant Light by Pietro ChiesaBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Chicago, ILMidcentury Italian Patinated Brass Fontana Arte Pendant Light, attributed to Pietro Chiesa, 1941. Sculpted from patinated brass tubing and...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Italian Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte Style Pendant or LanternBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana Arte, Max IngrandLocated in Houston, TXItalian Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte style pendant or lantern. This stunning italian chandelier or lantern is comprised of sheets of glass...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsChrome
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Sara Story Entertains in Her Festive Hudson Valley Home
The designer mixes heirloom pieces and new favorites to create a traditional-with-a-twist holiday setting.
We Took Over a Historic Milan Palazzo and Filled It with Edgy Design
With "A New Breed," we showcased exceptional pieces by rising talents, a rapidly growing area of strength among 1stdibs' many offerings.