Fontana Arte Bookends C1960
View Similar Items
Fontana Arte Bookends C1960
About the Item
- Creator:Fontana Arte (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 6.3 in (16 cm)Width: 3.94 in (10 cm)Depth: 4.93 in (12.5 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1960
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:Seller: #007571stDibs: LU1390226659192
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.
- Large Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte Flush Mount Chandelier C1960By Fontana Arte, Max IngrandLocated in London, GBMax Ingrand 8 light plafonnier. Italy c1960 Thick beveled glass and frosted glass shade. Painted metal, brass, frosted glass, glass. Re wired for US and Europe. Glass i...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Flush Mount
MaterialsGlass
- Asymmetrical Mirror by Max Ingrand for Fontana ArteBy Fontana Arte, Max IngrandLocated in London, GBRare asymmetric mirror by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte. Glass is beautiful grey colour Fontana label verso.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsGlass, Mirror
- Rare Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte Mirror, circa 1949By Fontana Arte, Max IngrandLocated in London, GBExceptional quality mirror in thick curved glass with mirror plate Manufactured by Fontana Arte, Milan, Italy. Reverse with manufacturer's paper label Complete with the back pl...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsNickel
- Fontana Arte umbrella standBy Fontana Arte, Max IngrandLocated in London, GBAn elegant umbrella stand by Max Ingrand for Fontna Arte Curved smokey glass with brass In very good condition. Nice patina to the brass. Glass all good.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Umbrella Stands
MaterialsBrass
$4,343 - Cristal Arte Blue Glass Frame Mirror, Model 2712. Italy C1950By Fontana ArteLocated in London, GBLovely quality mirror suspended over a curved blue glass 'frame', circa 1950, Italy.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsGlass
- Nathalie Grenon for Fontana ArteBy Fontana Arte, Nathalie GrenonLocated in London, GBLate 20th century Fontana Arte table lamp, circa 1990 by Nathalie Grennon Silk fabric shade has been remade.Category
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Large oval mirror attributed to Fontana Arte – 1960By Fontana ArteLocated in Girona, ESSpectacular large oval mirror. Bevelled mirror mounted in an asymmetrical dark green mirror frame bevelled on the inside and outside (elaborate, remo...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsMirror
- Specchio attr. Fontana Arte 1950By Fontana Arte, Max IngrandLocated in Palermo, ITSpecchio attribuibile a Fontana arte. Parliamo del 1959-1969, Max Ingrand, il cui nome completo era Maurice Max-Ingrand (Bressuire, 20 dicembre 1908 – Parigi, 25 agosto 1969), è stat...Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsArt Glass, Stained Glass
- Fontana Arte Round MirrorBy Fontana Arte, Pietro ChiesaLocated in Hanover, MAFontana Arte pale green shallow concave dish mirror designed by Pietro Chiesa. 23 inch diameter green bowl, 19 inch diameter mirrored glass with 'eyelid' style bevel along the top...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsGlass
- Midcentury Bronze Glass Mirror Style Fontana Arte, Italy 1960By Fontana Arte, GiannoliLocated in Saarbruecken, DELarge Fontana Arte style midcentury bronze glass mirror signed Giannoli, Italy 1960. Three dimensional. Very good vintage condition. -one of a ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsMirror
- Mid Century Fontana Arte Blue Italian Oval Mirror 1960sBy Fontana ArteLocated in Palermo, ITBeautiful mirror in Fontana Arte style, 1960s. It has a very particular narrow oval shape with a blue fontana frame. Wear consistent with age and us.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsGlass, Mirror
$1,099 Sale Price50% Off - Max Ingrand Wall Mirror for Fontana Arte, Italy 1960sBy Fontana Arte, Max IngrandLocated in Milan, ITSplendid Max Ingrand wall mirror model 2085 for Fontana Arte, Italy 1960s Reference: Quaderni Fontana Arte No.6 p.156.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Mirrors
MaterialsBrass