"Cactus" by Gufram - Drocco & Mello Design 1960s Coat Rack
About the Item
- Creator:Gufram Furniture (Manufacturer),Guido Drocco and Franco Mello (Artist)
- Dimensions:Height: 64.18 in (163 cm)Diameter: 27.56 in (70 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1968
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Brescia, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3300112617622
Gufram Furniture
The brainchild of the Fratelli Gugliermetto company, Gufram was born in 1966 in Turin, Italy, massively inspired by the avant-garde artistic culture that reigned in Europe during the 1960s and '70s. The brand is known for its CACTUS coat stand and sculptural seating such as the Pratone chair as well as other massive, innovative pieces that fall somewhere between art and furniture.
Starting in the mid-1960s, proponents of Italian Radical Design — which included forward-looking collectives like Archizoom and Studio 65 — broke with formality and convention by fusing the joy of Pop art with the systems of mass production.
One of the brands that formed as a result of these experiments was Gufram, a manufacturer at the forefront of the country’s Radical Design movement. The Gugliermetto brothers teamed up with emerging artists to harness exciting new materials — among them, polyurethane foam, which was originally used in the transportation industry as insulation to keep buses and trains warm.
Despite being credited for revolutionizing Italian design, until the mid-1970s, Gufram was largely unknown outside the small Italian town where it was founded. Nearly six years after the brand’s inception, though, word got out about a furniture brand transforming polyurethane foam into gigantic works of art. So, Gufram brought its playful and witty design concept across the Atlantic to New York’s Museum of Modern Art, where it had its first international show.
Gufram produced much of the Pop furniture — the CACTUS coat rack by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello and the Bocca sofa, in the shape of big red lips, by Studio 65 — that came to define the Anti-Design movement. (Through a relationship with Gufram, the latter was imported to the United States by Charles Stendig, a collector and pioneering importer who helped spark America’s interest in furniture from Finland, Switzerland and Italy during the 1960s and ‘70s.)
Although furniture can be serious business, it’s just as often playful, provocative, energizing and even liberating. Perhaps nothing embodies these characteristics better than postmodern Italian design. And one of the most iconic pieces to originate during Italy’s fertile period of postmodern furniture design is the Pratone chair, designed in 1971 by Giorgio Ceretti, Piero Derossi and Riccardo Rosso.
Representing a magnified portion of a grassy meadow, the Pratone chaise provides a lounging place for an individual or a group. “It is so unlike anything else that it stands out and is still iconic after 50 years,” said Charley Vezza, Gufram’s global creative orchestrator.
Made of painted polyurethane foam, the Pratone chair immediately became the symbol of a new and different approach to interiors when it debuted.
Gufram has become a favorite of the international art crowd and glitterati, and its products have made their way to the world’s most renowned museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vitra Design Museum and more.
British fashion designer Paul Smith and American multi-hyphenate artist A$AP Rocky have collaborated with Gufram over the years. Interior designer Tony Ingrao has called the Pratone chair one of his favorite works and featured the larger-than-life piece in an exhibition he curated at R & Company in 2016.
Find new and vintage Gufram chairs, sofas, mirrors and other Gufram furniture for sale on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Brescia, Italy
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- 1950s Pierluigi Colli Italian Midcentury Design Coat RackBy Colli TorinoLocated in Brescia, ITPierluigi Colli Torino, Italy 1950s Golden wrought iron, mirror and crystal.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Hollywood Regency Coat Racks and Stands
MaterialsCrystal, Iron
- 1950s Midcentury Design Bamboo Brass Magazine RackLocated in Brescia, ITBamboo and brass magazine rack Excellent condition.Category
Vintage 1950s Austrian Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsBrass
- 1950s Nautical Anchor Midcentury Italian Design Bentwood Magazine RackBy Società Compensati CurvatiLocated in Brescia, ITBentwood magazine rack Italy, 1950s. Excellent condition.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsBentwood
- 1950s Maison Baguès Midcentury French Design Bamboo Brass Magazine RackBy Maison BaguèsLocated in Brescia, ITBamboo brass magazine rack Excellent condition.Category
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsBrass
- 1950s Cesare Lacca Italian Mid-Century Modern Design Mahogany Magazine RackBy Cesare LaccaLocated in Brescia, ITMahogany wood and brass details Excellent condition Measures: H 70 x 52 cm.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Magazine Racks and Stands
MaterialsBrass
- 1950s by Siva Midcentury Italian Design Fishes Decor Umbrella StandBy Siva PoggibonsiLocated in Brescia, ITEnameled metal and brass details Excellent condition.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Umbrella Stands
MaterialsMetal
- Cactus Coat Rack by Guido Drocco & Franco Mello for Gufram, 1960sBy Guido Drocco and Franco MelloLocated in amstelveen, NLIconic cactus coat rack in very good original condition. Signed #964/2000 Gufram Multiples '86. The Gufram Cactus is included in several museum collections around the world and docum...Category
Vintage 1980s European Mid-Century Modern Coat Racks and Stands
MaterialsFabric
- First Edition, Cactus Coat Rack by Guido Drocco and Franco Mello for Gufram 1968By Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, Gufram FurnitureLocated in Lasne, BECoat rack in polyurethane in the shape of a green cactus. This is the first edition created in 1968. Wear due to age and time of the coat rack.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coat Racks and Stands
MaterialsPolyester
- GUFRAM Another White Cactus Sculptural Coatrack by Drocco & MelloBy Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, Gufram FurnitureLocated in La Morra, CuneoCactus is the icon of Italian design that has revolutionized the domestic landscape. Made of flexible polyurethane this hall tree with four cantilever arms is as tall as a person and...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coat Racks and Stands
MaterialsOther
- GUFRAM Another Green Cactus Sculptural Coatrack by Drocco & MelloBy Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, Gufram FurnitureLocated in La Morra, CuneoCactus is the icon of Italian design that has revolutionized the domestic landscape. Made of flexible polyurethane this hall tree with four cantilever arms is as tall as a person and...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coat Racks and Stands
MaterialsOther
- Gufram Radiant Cactus Sculptural Coatrack by Drocco & Mello and OrdovasBy Guido Drocco and Franco Mello, Gufram FurnitureLocated in La Morra, CuneoCactus is the icon of Italian design that has revolutionized the domestic landscape. Made of flexible polyurethane this hall tree with four cantilever arms is as tall as a person and...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coat Racks and Stands
MaterialsFoam
- Gufram Another Green Cactus Coat Stand By Drocco/MelloBy Gufram FurnitureLocated in New York, NYThe subject of several, free and often ambiguous interpretations, Cactus is the icon of Italian design that has revolutionized the domestic landscape, by subverting the borders betwe...Category
2010s Italian Coat Racks and Stands
MaterialsTextile
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
A$AP Rocky’s Mini Gufram Shroom CACTUS Puts a Trippy Spin on a Design Icon
Make room for a psychedelic new addition to your collection of furniture minis.
April’s Most-Liked Interiors on Instagram
Our feed is filled with the world's most beautiful spaces. See the 10 our followers have deemed the best of the best this month.