Chrome and Glass Fixture by Fontana Arte
View Similar Items
Chrome and Glass Fixture by Fontana Arte
About the Item
- Creator:Fontana Arte (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)Diameter: 14.97 in (38 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1960
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. It's wired for european standards.
- Seller Location:Piacenza, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU103167183083
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.
- Midcentury ceiling light by Max Ingrand for Fontana ArteBy Fontana Arte, Max IngrandLocated in Piacenza, ItalyThis suspension lamp design was prominently displayed in the article on Mobilier et Decoration in 1959, featuring and endorsing the lighting designs of Max ingrand. From a small seri...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
$23,716 Sale Price20% Off - Midcentury Fontana Arte chandelier by Gio Ponti, Italy 1940sBy Gio Ponti, Fontana ArteLocated in Piacenza, ItalyStunning chandelier designed by Gio Ponti for Fontana Arte This suspension lamp, manufactured by Fontana Arte, features a transparent glass disc with metal and brass details Origin...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Italian Midcentury Glass Pendant Attributed to Pietro Chiesa for Fontana ArteBy Fontana Arte, Pietro ChiesaLocated in Piacenza, ItalyItalian midcentury glass pendant attributed to Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte. Beautiful glass pendant made in finely decorated glass and crystal, the round shaped chandelier has a...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsCrystal, Metal
$5,973 Sale Price20% Off - Chandelier by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte, SignedBy Pietro ChiesaLocated in Piacenza, ItalyElegant brass and glass chandelier by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte, signed in the little brass detail FX Milano.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
$5,885 Sale Price20% Off - 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
$9,662 Sale Price20% Off - Floor Lamp Mod. 1968 by Fontana ArteBy Fontana ArteLocated in Piacenza, ItalyFloor or reading lamp mod. 1968 by Fontana Arte. Simply and elegant brass structure in its original vintage patina. The lampshade is adjustable and rotating. Published on I Quaderni...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Italian Midcentury Chrome and Glass Fontana Arte Style Light Fixture, circa 1970By Fontana ArteLocated in North Miami, FLThick curved glass contrasts with thin enameled chrome in this circa 1970 Italian ceiling light in the manner of Fontana Arte. Wired for U.S.. Measurements below are for fixture only...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsChrome
- Fontana Arte Mid-Century Modern Beveled Glass and Chrome Pendant Light FixtureBy Fontana ArteLocated in Miami, FLMid-Century Modern Italian beveled thick glass and chrome pendant light fixture by Fontana Arte from the 1970s. The fixture has eight thick beveled glass panels, two on each side, ...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsChrome, Metal
- Glass and Chrome Pendant Style of Fontana ArteBy Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYGlass and chrome pendant style of Fontana Arte. Has six cylindrical glass pendants with chrome tops.Category
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsChrome
- Chrome and Glass Chandelier, Style of Fontana ArteBy Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYChandelier in the style of Fontana Arte, chrome and glass.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsChrome
- Italian Fontana Arte Inspired Chrome And Glass PendantBy VECA, Quattro Zero Edited By Fontana Arte, Fontana Arte, Cristal ArteLocated in Houston, TXItalian Fontana Arte Inspired Chrome And Glass Pendant. This beautiful Italian chrome pendant has a central sheet of thick glass with thick round smoked glass on either side. Most un...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsChrome
- Fontana Arte Style Mid-Century Modern Glass & Chrome Pendant Light Fixture 1960sBy Fontana ArteLocated in Miami, FLEarly Mid-Century Modern Italian beveled thick glass and chrome pendant light fixture by Fontana Arte from the 1960s. The fixture has eight thick beveled smoked glass panels, two on...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Chrome, Aluminum