Important 1968 Plexiglass Dining Set by Casati & Ponzio for Comfort, Italy, Rare

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Important 1968 Plexiglass Dining Set by Casati & Ponzio for Comfort, Italy, Rare

About the Item

Stunning, extremely rare and important, plexiglass dining set designed by italian architects Cesare Casati and Emanuele Ponzio in 1968 for COMFORT, Italy complete with the original and wonderful two tone 'target' seat upholstery showing the influence of artists such as Kenneth Noland. The transparent plexiglass structure allows the seats and table top to appear as flying saucers floating in space. This is an extremely rare design and I have never seen the matching table before apart from in original period design journals. This beautiful design featured on the front cover of the first ever issue of CASA VOGUE magazine in November 1968 alongside avant garde plexiglass sculptures by Gino Marotta. PLEASE SEE IMAGE 2. The chairs were originally designed for the famous 'IL GRIFONCINO' nightclub in Bolzano Italy which was one of the most famous avant garde interiors of the entire radical space age period ,documented in most of the international design journals of the time and which also included plexiglass cloud sculptures and lighting by Gino Marotta. The original small set of prototype chairs fabricated for the IL GRIFONCINO were produced in a special type of transparent plexiglass with an invisible special additive which glows when in the prescence of 'black' light; a table also made from plexiglass but with an illuminated 'black' light base was also produced to accompany these prototype chairs and when the table light was switched on the seemingly transparent chairs suddenly changed color to glow blue and violet in the dark ! It was decided that the special 'black light' reactive additive was not necessary for the average client so when COMFORT decided to produce this design on a commercial basis in 1968 they went with using a standard and very thick 0.4" (10mm) transparent plexiglass. A new table by Casati & Ponzio was also designed to match the chairs, with a thick 0.4"(10mm) two piece,interlocking plexiglass base complete with a white painted circular wooden top. These were produced in very small numbers and today are extremely rare. This is an extremely rare opportunity to acquire an important and complete set of this more than rare design. This set is presented in completely original and authentic condition, there is some light staining to the seat upholstery and one has a very small moth hole. The thick plexiglass structure on both the chairs and table base are in very good structural order with no chips or cracks and are still very sturdy but obviously exhibit some user wear commensurate with age and use, light scuff marks etc but overall still very nice. The circular white painted table top is now showing signs of significant ageing, the paint is now very old and dry and is crazing and cracking and there are a few small chips around the edges Unusually ALL the original mounting hardware is still present comprising seat screws, four table top to plexiglass base mounting brackets and two X block stiffeners for the two part plexiglass table base. . I have decided to keep the set completely original so clients can see the true authenticity of this rare set, the buyer could easily strip and have the table top refinished and recover the seats if they so desire. My feeling is there are many clients and museums out there that will appreciate the authenticity of such a rare set left exactly as it is. DIMENSIONS : PLEASE NOTE the dimensions listed in the separate dimension section of this listing are only for the chairs. CHAIR DIMENSIONS : Diameter 17.7" ( 45 cm) ' Overall height 26.2" (66.5 cm) Seating height 16.75" (42.5 cm) TABLE DIMENSIONS : Diameter of table top : 42.5" (108 cm) Overall height of table : 25.8" ( 65.5 cm) LITERATURE : CASA VOGUE, COVER PAGE November 1968, please see image 2 Original 'COMFORT' advertising brochure 1968 DOMUS, issue number 479, January 1969, page 32, please see image 10 'DOMUS' number 491, October 1970, pages 29-31. Please see IMAGE 9 'DISCOTECA 1968 - L'ARCHITETTURA STAORDINARIA'. pages 39,40,44 Fulvio Ferrari, Umberto Allemandi, 1989.

Creator:
Cesare Casati and Emanuele Ponzio (Designer)
Dimensions:
Height: 26.19 in (66.5 cm)Diameter: 17.72 in (45 cm)Seat Height: 16.74 in (42.5 cm)
Sold As:
Set of 5
Materials and Techniques:
Aluminum,Fabric,Nickel,Plexiglass,Wood,Painted
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
1960-1969
Date of Manufacture:
1968
Condition:
Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. plexiglass structures in excellent structural order with no cracks or chips, some light surface scuff mark. The fabric seats have light staining and one has a very small moth hole. The paint on the table top is dry and cracked.
Seller Location:
bergen op zoom, NL
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU93013272442