Tito Agnoli for Arflex Two Seat Sofa in Cognac Leather

About the Item

Tito Agnoli for Arflex, two seat sofa, model '9000', patinated leather, wood, Italy, 1969 This design is characterized by a cubic outer frame that provides a visually interesting contrast to the round seat. When seated you experience a pleasant enclosed feeling. The leather visualizes vertical stitching that adds a graphical touch to the quite simplistic design. The bulky size of the sofa underlines the characteristic style and invites the user to lounge and relax. In absence of decorative details, the design convinces visually through the well-balanced appearance and the stabile construction. Tito Agnoli (1931-2012), whose full name is Giovanni Battista Agnoli, is considered one of the most important Italian designers of modern lighting. Agnoli was born in 1931 in Lima, two years after his parents emigrated to Peru in 1929 due to the political situation in Italy where Mussolini's fascistic regime was on the rise. After WWII, Agnoli came to Milan in 1947 and started to take art lessons and enrolled into the Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera. The mid-century tendency in the art world, with surrealism and abstract expressionism thriving, didn't suit Agnoli's realism. A year later he began to study engineering and architecture at the Milan Polytechnic. During his career, Agnoli worked as an assistant for Gio Ponti and Carlo De Carli. From the fifties onwards, Tito Agnoli, who was still very young, created a series of ambitious creative design projects for O-Luce, Arflex, Poltrona Frau, Matteo Grassi, etc. He has been nominated for the Compasso d’Oro several times during his career. Nowadays, some of his designs are part of the permanent collection of the MoMA in New York. Please note that the leather contains scratches and signs of wear. Reupholstery is possible before shipping by our experienced craftsman and -women in our own in-house restoration atelier. With high attention for the original, they make sure every piece retains its value and is ready for the many years to come. We kindly ask you to contact our design experts for further information about the endless possibilities our restoration and upholstery atelier has to offer. Of course, a locally organized reupholstery is possible as well.

Creator:

Arflex (Manufacturer),Tito Agnoli (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 27.37 in (69.5 cm)Width: 63.78 in (162 cm)Depth: 32.29 in (82 cm)Seat Height: 16.54 in (42 cm)

Style:

Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Leather,Wood

Place of Origin:

Italy

Period:

1960-1969

Date of Manufacture:

1969

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. Every item Morentz offers is checked by our team of 30 craftsmen in our in-house workshop. Special restoration or reupholstery requests can be done. Check ‘About the item’ or ask our design specialists for detailed information on the condition.

Seller Location:

Waalwijk, NL

Reference Number:

Seller: 501123741stDibs: LU933137639512

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Shop All Arflex

Arflex

From its unorthodox beginnings, Italian manufacturer Arflex grew into one of the leaders of 20th-century furniture design. Its furniture came to be known for its integration of new materials and bold appeal, and today a variety of vintage Arflex chairs, sofas and tables are emblems of mid-century modernism.

Arflex was established in Milan in 1947 by Pirelli employees Carlo Barassi, Pio Reggiani, Renato Teani and Aldo Bai. Barassi, a Milan Polytechnic graduate and visionary engineer at the Italian tire manufacturer, explored innovative technology and new uses for synthetic materials in domestic products (for Kartell, he codeveloped a ski rack for automobiles). The four founders partnered with a young architect named Marco Zanuso, who also desired to create furniture that featured an application of novel materials such as elastic tape and polyurethane foam.

One of Arflex’s inaugural pieces was Zanuso’s Lady armchair, a seat made of polyurethane foam that was manufactured in pieces and assembled at the very end of the production process. It won a gold medal at the 1951 Milan Triennale. A couple of years later, Arflex collaborated with Studio BBPR to create the office-chic Elettra and Neptunia chairs. The flourishing furniture company quickly established a reputation for compelling products and attracting and working with up-and-coming designers such as Roberto Menghi, who created Hall, a luxurious line of seating that would earn the Compasso d’Oro – Honorable Mention in 1959.

In the 1960s, Arflex continued to welcome the use of new and cutting-edge materials. Popular designs from this decade include Carlo Bartoli's fiberglass and polyester resin Gaia lounge chair and Cini Boer’s Bobo Relax lounger, one of history’s first seating pieces made of polyurethane foam (it has no internal frame). Boer, a pioneer of furniture design in Italy, also created the Strips sofa for the brand in 1972. Part of a plush modular seating system, the Strips sofa became an Arflex icon and was awarded the Compasso d'Oro in 1979.

Arflex continues to work with innovative designers to this day. Among their more recent collaborations is with Swedish design studio Claesson Koivisto Rune. The company's legendary creations are also on display at museums worldwide. The Lady chair, for example, is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

On 1stDibs, you can find a collection of vintage Arflex lounge chairs, armchairs, coffee tables and other furniture.