Pair of Fontana Arte Pendants
View Similar Items
Pair of Fontana Arte Pendants
About the Item
- Creator:Fontana Arte (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 19.69 in (50 cm)Diameter: 21.66 in (55 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1950
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Wired for european standard.
- Seller Location:Piacenza, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU103166507933
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.
- 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
$5,975 Sale Price20% Off - Midcentury ceiling light by Max Ingrand for Fontana ArteBy Max Ingrand, Fontana ArteLocated 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
$23,724 Sale Price20% Off - Charming Pendant Attributed to Pietro Chiesa for Fontana ArteBy Pietro ChiesaLocated in Piacenza, ItalyCharming brass and glass pendant attributed to Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte. Unique etched glass with a polished brass structure. Excellent condition.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- 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
$5,887 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
$9,665 Sale Price20% Off - Max Ingrand Wall Lights for Fontana Arte, Mod. 1636By Max Ingrand, Fontana ArteLocated in Piacenza, ItalyStunning Max Ingrand wall lights for Fontana Arte, mod. 1636 Bib. Quaderni di Fontana Arte, pag. 64 They were in important s...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsCrystal, Brass
$10,434 / set
- Crystal Pendant in Style of Fontana ArteBy Fontana ArteLocated in Antwerp, BEIn style of Fontana Arte,clear crystal ceiling light. Nine thick carved pieces hanging on a stainless steel frame.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsArt Glass
$1,318 Sale Price20% Off - Midcentury Pendant by Fontana ArteBy Fontana ArteLocated in Los Angeles, CAVintage Italian pendant with a large frosted glass shade suspended with three blue glass balls on nickel frame / Made in Italy by Fontana Arte, circa 1970s Original sticker on the ce...Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsNickel
- 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
- Italian Pendant in the Manner of Fontana ArteBy Fontana ArteLocated in Los Angeles, CARomantic Vintage Italian pendant in the manner of Fontana Arte . Etched glass shades and all is in original conditionCategory
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Italian Pendant in the Style of Fontana ArteBy Fontana ArteLocated in Los Angeles, CATwo-tone glass pendant and brass base.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
- Fontana Arte Attributed Brass And Glass PendantBy Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYBeautiful 1950's solid brass and glass Italian pendant attributed to Fontana Arte, in vintage condition with minor wear and patina due to age and use, newly rewired and ready to use.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass