Pietra Table Lamp by Gae Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni for Fontana Arte, 1980
About the Item
- Creator:
- Dimensions:Height: 5.91 in (15 cm)Width: 27.17 in (69 cm)Depth: 11.82 in (30 cm)
- Power Source:Plug-in
- Voltage:110-150v,220-240v
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1980-1989
- Date of Manufacture:1980
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Renens, CH
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5599232638302
Gae Aulenti
The Italian architect and designer Gae Aulenti will forever be best remembered for her work with museums, in particular her 1980–86 renovation of a Beaux Arts Paris train station to create the galleries of the Musée d’Orsay. Aulenti — whose first name, short for Gaetana, is pronounced “guy” — should also be recalled for her tough intellectual spirit and for working steadily when few women found successful architectural careers in postwar Italy.
After she graduated from the Milan Polytechic in 1954, Aulenti opened an architectural office. She also joined the staff of the progressive architectural magazine Casabella, whose editorial line was that the establishment, orthodox modernism of Le Corbusier and the Bauhaus, had outlived it usefulness. When their movement for fresh approaches to architecture and design received a sympathetic hearing, Aulenti found patrons — most prominently Gianni Agnelli, of Fiat, who later employed her to renovate the Palazzo Grassi in Venice for use as an arts exhibition space.
Commissions for showrooms and other corporate spaces brought Aulenti to furniture design. She felt that furniture should never dominate a room. Her chairs and sofas — low-slung, with rounded enameled metal frames and ample seats — and tables, particularly her 1972 marble Jumbo coffee table for Knoll, project solidity and sturdiness. In lighting design, however, Aulenti is bravura. Each work has a marvelous sculptural presence. Pieces such as her Pipistrello table lamp and Quadrifoglio pendant are a perfect marriage of organically shaped glass and high-tech fixtures. Others have a futuristic elegance — and some even have a touch of personality. Aulenti’s Pileino and La Ruspa table lamps each look almost like little robots. Her lighting pieces are an artful grace note in the career of a woman who believed in strength.
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: La Sarraz, Switzerland
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 3 days of delivery.
- Mezzo Oracolo lamps by Gae Aulenti for Artemide, 1960sBy Gae Aulenti, ArtemideLocated in Renens, CHGae Aulenti, an Italian architect active during the post-war period has designed buildings, interiors, furniture and lamps during her career, many of them well-known such as the Musé...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsAluminum
- Rare Grey Color Mezzoracolo Table Lamp by Gae Aulenti for Artemide, 1990sBy Gae Aulenti, ArtemideLocated in Renens, CHGae Aulenti, an Italian architect active during the post-war period has designed buildings, interiors, furniture and lamps during her career, many of them well-known such as the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Palazzo Grassi in Venice, the Pipistrello and Oracolo lamp...Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsAluminum
- Italian Design Classic Table Lamp by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte, 1970sBy Fontana Arte, Pietro ChiesaLocated in Renens, CHModel 0836 table lamp by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte. The lamp consists of a heavy glass base, brass metal structure and an adjustable glass shade, it remains in beautiful con...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Eugenio Gentili Tedeschi For Fontana Arte “Yoyo” Table Lamp, 1970sBy Fontana ArteLocated in Renens, CHTable lamp named “Yoyo”, consisting of a red coated metal structure with two round glass inserts: This lamp originates from the 1970s and was produced in Italy. The design is attributed to Eugenio Gentili Tedeschi...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of OZ Table Lamps by Franco Raggi and Daniela Puppa, Ed.Fontana Arte 1981By Fontana Arte, Daniela Puppa and Franco RaggiLocated in Renens, CHPair of Oz model table lamps in murano glass by Daniela Puppa and Franco Raggi from 1981. Edition Fontana Arte 1981 Each lamp is composed of an inclined conical lampshade...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMurano Glass
- “Jumbo” Coffee Table by Gae Aulenti for Knoll, 1960sBy Gae Aulenti, KnollLocated in Renens, CHGae Aulenti, an Italian architect active during the post-war period has designed buildings, interiors, furniture and lamps during her career, many of them well-known such as the Musé...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble
- Table lamp by Gae Aulenti & Piero Castiglioni for Fontana ArteBy Fontana Arte, Gae AulentiLocated in PARIS, FRLamp model Pietra by Gae Aulenti & Piero Castiglioni for Fontana Arte, creation 1988. This large Table or Desk lamp holds on 2 thick blades of glass and is covered with a chromed met...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- "Pietra" Light by Gae Aulenti & Piero Castiglioni for Fontana ArteBy Livio Castiglioni, Gae AulentiLocated in New York, NYThe 'Pietra' light is a rare light designed by two powerhouse designers (Aulenti & Castiglioni) in 1988. I have only seen two others in the last 20 years! The lamp is in perfect orig...Category
20th Century Italian Table Lamps
MaterialsChrome
- Fontana Art Parola Table Lamp Designed by Gae Aulenti and Piero CastiglioniBy Fontana Arte, Gae AulentiLocated in Brooklyn, NYDesigned by Gae Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni, the Parola lamp features three different kinds of glass working processes: opaline blown glass for the adjus...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBlown Glass
- Parola sconce by Gae Aulenti & Piero Castiglioni for Fontana Arte, Italy, 1980sBy Fontana Arte, Gae AulentiLocated in Milano, ITCrafted by the collaborative efforts of Gae Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni, the Parola lamp showcases a harmonious fusion of three distinct glassworking techniques. The adjustable sha...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Green Minibox Table Lamp by Gae Aulenti & Piero Castiglioni for Stilnovo, 1980sBy Stilnovo, Gae AulentiLocated in Rotterdam, NLGreen Minibox table lamp designed by Gae Aulenti & Piero Castiglioni and manufactured by Stilnovo in 1980. This halogen table lamp can also be used as a 'torch' thanks to the hand...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- White Minibox Table Lamp by Gae Aulenti & Piero Castiglioni for Stilnovo, 1980sBy Stilnovo, Gae AulentiLocated in Rotterdam, NLWhite Minibox table lamp designed by Gae Aulenti & Piero Castiglioni and manufactured by Stilnovo in 1980. This halogen table lamp can also be used as a 'torch' thanks to the handy ...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
We Dare You Not to Smile at These Whimsical Italian Designs
Make anyplace your happy place with Italian furniture at its subversive best.
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.