Fontana Arte pair of brass and glass chandeliers, Italian Design 1960 circa
About the Item
- Creator:Fontana Arte (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 64.18 in (163 cm)Diameter: 19.69 in (50 cm)
- Power Source:Hardwired
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960 circa
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Milan, IT
- Reference Number:
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Fizzonasco, Italy
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
- Italian Design Brass and Glass Chandelier, 1960 circaLocated in Milan, ITLight and delicate, this mid-century chandelier seems to use the curved screens of frosted crystal as propellers to hang in the air and provide light to the room without apparently b...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Reggiani, Fine Brass and Glass Chandelier, Italian Design, 1960 CaBy Fontana ArteLocated in Milan, ITSimple and very decorative, this chandelier perfectly embodies the tradition of Reggiani, one of the most important Italian lighting companies of the 20th century: the essential elem...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Venini Murano glass pair of Canne chandeliers - Italian Design 1960 circaBy VeniniLocated in Milan, ITPair of chandeliers with brass structure and beautiful decorative elements from Venini's Canne series, a classic that allows versatile conformations with relatively simple Murano gla...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Gio Ponti for Fontana Arte Suspension lamp mod. 0024 metal and glass design 1933By Fontana Arte, Gio PontiLocated in Milan, ITAn iconic design by Gio Ponti for Fontana Arte in 1933, this chandelier is a classic of Italian design. With its timeless elegance and a geometrically simple idea, this chandelier ca...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Stilnovo Rare suspension metal brass and glass, Italian Design 1960 circaBy StilnovoLocated in Milan, ITThis suspension lamp created by Stilnovo is a rare model that is very decorative and impactful, with a captivating disc shape and capable of having an aesthetic value to highlight th...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Oscar Torlasco Pair of adjustable chandeliers for Lumi, Italian Design 1960sBy Oscar Torlasco, LumiLocated in Milan, ITThese two chandeliers are counterweight adjustable with a double switch that allows maximum flexibility in lighting more open or more intimate spaces. The double switch located on th...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Iron
- Fontana Arte Chandelier Brass Glass 1960 ItalyBy Fontana ArteLocated in Milano, ITFontana Arte.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Other Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Brass and Glass Chandelier Fontana Arte Style, Italy, 1970sBy Fontana ArteLocated in Rome, ITChandelier featuring brass structure and chain and two oval glass in the style of Fontana Arte. Made in Italy in the 1970s. Measures: Height with chain: 90 cm. Height without c...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal, Brass
- Fontana Arte Italian Modernist Brass and Frosted Glass ChandelierBy Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYItalian Modernist (1940s) design horizontal form chandelier with 2 dark frosted glass bow shaped side panels centering an oval light frosted bottom panel with a brass tubular trim fr...Category
Early 20th Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Italian Brass and Glass Modernist Chandelier-Fontana Arte StyleBy Pietro Chiesa, Max Ingrand, Fontana ArteLocated in Houston, TXItalian brass and glass Modernist chandelier-Fontana Arte Style. This stunning Italian Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte style modernist brass and glass chandelier is comprised of six large opaline glass shades on a brass structure. Rod could be replaced with a longer one if extra height is needed. This unusual chandelier...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Fontana Arte pair of italian chandeliers in engraved glass and metal circa 1950By Fontana ArteLocated in Rio De Janeiro, RJIncredible Fontana Arte pair of chandeliers in engraved glass an crome metal circa 1950Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Fontana Arte Style Frosted Glass Chandelier, Italy, 1960By Fontana ArteLocated in Saarbruecken, DEItalian 1960s chandelier with bold Fontana Arte style 25 thick slabs of partly frosted glass, each 24cm (9.5 in). Each of these slabs is hand-cut and hand-chipped. Holds four bulbs. ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsGlass