Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plate Tema e Variazioni No. 224, Lina Cavalieri
By Piero Fornasetti
Located in Downingtown, PA
Piero Fornasetti Porcelain Plate, Tema e Variazioni No. 224, Lina Cavalieri
1980s
This Piero Fornasetti porcelain plate from the Tema e Variazioni series presents the face of the Italian opera singer Lina Cavalieri fragmented and repeated across the well in a dense field of overlapping crescents, so that only the eyes and brows of each impression remain visible. The lithographic transfer is printed in black and gray on a white ground, and the scale-like repetition reads at a distance as an abstract pattern before resolving into dozens of watching eyes. Numbered 224 in the series, it is among the more unusual and graphically inventive of the Tema e Variazioni designs, and it demonstrates the Surrealist wit and optical play that defined Fornasetti’s approach to the decorative arts.
Dimensions
Diameter: 10 inches (25.4 cm)
Height: 1 inch (2.5 cm)
Marks
Printed to the reverse with the Fornasetti eye...
Category
Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage 1980s Furniture