Tobia Scarpa "Coronado" Leather Sofa for C&B Italia
View Similar Items
Tobia Scarpa "Coronado" Leather Sofa for C&B Italia
About the Item
- Creator:Afra & Tobia Scarpa (Designer),C&B Italia (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 85 in (215.9 cm)Length: 29 in (73.66 cm)Seat Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1969
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses. Minor fading.
- Seller Location:Los Angeles, CA
- Reference Number:Seller: S690S CC1stDibs: LU922422491802
Afra & Tobia Scarpa
Widely recognized as superstars of postmodern Italian design, husband-and-wife team Afra and Tobia Scarpa (1937–2011; b. 1935) collaboratively created chairs, sofas and other furniture that work equally well in both traditional and cutting-edge environments.
Ranging from architecture and interior design to furniture and clothing, the Scarpas’ practice from its beginnings in the mid-1950s to the 21st century has included a diverse scope of projects combining new technology with thoughtful function and sculptural yet simple forms.
Afra Bianchin and Tobia Scarpa met as architecture students at the Università Iuav di Venezia. In a class led by architect and furniture designer Franco Albini, they created their first collaborative piece, the Pigreco armchair, later produced with Gavina. After graduating in 1957, Tobia worked for Murano glass company Venini & Co. before the couple opened a studio in Afra’s hometown, Montebelluna, in 1960. (Tobia, the son of famed glass artist and architect Carlo Scarpa, was born in Venice.)
For Afra and Tobia, a close collaborative process was pivotal to the success of their designs. The duo was also prolific — they designed for the most influential European manufacturers, including B&B Italia, Cassina, Knoll and FLOS. With respect to the latter, Afra and Tobia were among the legendary Italian lighting maker’s earliest collaborators, and their pioneering designs for the brand included the Papillon lamp, one of the first fixtures to use halogen technology. Their most recognized designs include the Bastiano sofa (1962), the Vanessa bed (1959), the Coronado sofa (1966) and the Soriana seating collection (1970). Work on the Soriana sofa began in late 1969 for an early 1970 debut, and it feels as radical today as it did in its heyday.
Architecture was also a central part of Afra and Tobia’s practice, which spanned residential buildings and factories for Italian companies such as Benetton. Their commissions for the global fashion brand included numerous industrial projects, from textile plants to storefronts. By 1985, Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s work was celebrated in a 30-year retrospective at Center Four in Queens, New York. Looking around the 30,000-square-foot exhibition space, Afra joked to the New York Times, “Seeing all those things makes us feel very tired, and now we feel that maybe we worked too much.”
It was not too much for their legacy, as Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s work continues to inspire new generations. Scarpa designs are in collections at the Louvre, the Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The couple was awarded the Compasso d’Oro in 1970 for the Soriana armchair.
Find vintage Afra & Tobia Scarpa lounge chairs, dining chairs, floor lamps and other furniture today on 1stDibs.
C&B Italia
In 1966, Piero Ambrogio Busnelli cofounded C&B Italia, a modern Italian furniture manufacturer, with Cesare Cassina in northern Milan. The Camaleonda sofa — a darling of the design world — is an iconic C&B piece created in 1970 by Milanese architect and designer Mario Bellini, which became a hit after its star turn in the 1972 exhibition “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Soon afterward, however, the company split, with Cassina founding his own eponymous firm and Busnelli taking leadership of what became B&B Italia.
From the outset at C&B, Busnelli and Cassina set about recruiting the most talented modernists in Italy to conceive of creative furnishings manufactured in modern ways. As B&B, for decades, Busnelli cultivated relationships with the world’s best design talent, resulting in furniture pieces that remain legendary today — be they Gaetano Pesce’s outwardly curvaceous Up seating (made for C&B, reintroduced by B&B) or tables from industrial designer Paolo Piva, each more sophisticated than the next in their geometrically complex steel-tube bases. B&B Italia earned four prestigious Compasso d’Oro design awards: in 1979 for Bellini’s Le Bambole, in 1984 for the Sisamo wardrobe system by Studio Kairos, in 1987 for Antonio Citterio’s modular Sity sofa and, in 1989, the first award given to a manufacturing company itself.
Other notable names who designed for B&B Italia over the course of its 54-year history include Patricia Urquiola, Naoto Fukasawa, Zaha Hadid, Ettore Sottsass and Vincent Van Duysen, to name a very few. And while these names bring star power to the B&B brand, in many cases, it was B&B Italia who helped usher in their celebrity, fostering a wave of design talent on the world stage. Now, B&B Italia manages a contract division and outdoor section as well as its residential arm, and it also controls production for Maxalto, a brand spun out with furniture designs by Antonio Citterio.
At 1stDibs, find vintage C&B Italia furniture including sofas, armchairs, tables and more.
- Gerard van den Berg Sofa High Back Sofa for Montis in Cognac & Chocolate LeatherBy Gerard Van Den Berg, MontisLocated in Los Angeles, CAHigh back cognac leather sofa by Gerard van Den Berg for Montis. Cognac leather with 3 dark chocolate leather buttoned on back pillows and matching chocola...Category
Vintage 1970s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather
- Cognac Leather "Aztec" Sofa By Gerard Van Den Berg For MontisBy Gerard Van Den Berg, MontisLocated in Los Angeles, CAHandsome 1980's "Aztec" cognac leather sofa by visionary Dutch designer Gerard van den Berg for his Montis label. Comfy soft structure leather sofa in original with age appropriate...Category
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather
- Raphael Raffel Brown Natural Leather Croissant Sofa for Honore Paris, 1970sBy Honoré Paris, Raphael RaffelLocated in Los Angeles, CAA Raphael Raffel designed, 1970s, made-to-order natural leather Croissant Sofa for Honore Paris. Raphael Raffel (1912-2000), who trained at the École des Beaux Arts, was a well-known...Category
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather
- Molinari "Fat Boy" Black Leather SofaBy MolinariLocated in Los Angeles, CABeautiful, Mid-Century, thick black leather sofa by Italian acclaimed manufacturer Molinari. The family owned company has been in business since 1960 and is highly regarded for their...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather
- Mid-Century Brown Leather 'Bommel' Sofa by Gerard van den Berg for LABEL, 1985By Gerard Van Den Berg, LabelLocated in Los Angeles, CALarge Mid-Century 'Bommel' sofa by Gerard van den Berg for LABEL, 1985. Attractive three-seater sofa with thick brown leather and wood feet. Ideal sofa for watching movies or sleepin...Category
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Kho Liang Ie Model 662 Sofa for ArtifortBy Artifort, Kho Liang IeLocated in Los Angeles, CAAmazing, Mid-Century, low and stealthy, decoratively tufted three seat sofa designed by Kho Liang ie for Artifort Holland. Kho Liang Ie was born in 1927 in Magelang, Dutch East Indie...Category
Vintage 1970s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsMetal
$2,360 Sale Price20% Off
- Black leather Coronado sofa, by Afra & Tobia Scarpa, C&B Italia, 1960sBy Afra & Tobia Scarpa, C&B ItaliaLocated in Lyon, FRStunning Coronado sofa in black leather, made in the 1960s by C&B Italia (later B&B Italia), designed by Afra & Tobia Scarpa. First edition, original bl...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather
- B&B ITALIA Afra & Tobia Scarpa Modell Coronado Leather SofaBy Afra & Tobia Scarpa, B&B ItaliaLocated in Munich, BavariaB&B Italia black leather sofa Modell Coronado designed by Afra & Tobia Scarpa in the late 1960s. Big loose cushions. This small sofa is comfortable. The leather is in good conditio...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather
- Afra and Tobia Scarpa Leather Coronado Living Room Set for C&B Italia, 1969By Afra & Tobia Scarpa, C&B ItaliaLocated in Vicenza, ITBrown leather “Coronado” living room set composed of two armchairs and one three-seat sofa, designed by Afra and Tobia Scarpa in 1966 and produced by the Italian manufacturer C&B Ita...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sectional Sofas
MaterialsFoam, Leather
- Two-Seater Sofa "Coronado" Design Tobia Scarpa for B&B Italia, 1970sBy B&B Italia, Afra & Tobia ScarpaLocated in taranto, IT"coronado" model two-seater sofa, designed by Tobia Scarpa for B&B Italia, 1970s Made on iron structure, colonial color leather upholstery Measures 150 x 78 x 93 In very goo...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Sofas
MaterialsLeather
- Pair of Tobia Scarpa Coronado Leather Sofas for B&B Italia, 1975By Tobia ScarpaLocated in New York, NYA pair of 'Coronado' two seat sofas in beautiful cognac leather, designed by Tobia Scarpa and manufactured by the Italian firm, B&B Italia, circa 1975. The seating are made with a then revolutionary kind of molded polyurethane foam for excellent support and comfort. The 'Coronado', was the first ever seating to be built using this new technique: the foam molds were assembled around an iron frame, resulting in a sturdy yet extremely comfortable product. The present pair consists of the two seater sofas offered in their original cognac leather upholstery preserved in excellent condition. Labels affixed on both pieces read 'Coronado' designed by Tobia Scarpa for B&B Italia. Afra and Tobia Scarpa designs were characterized by simplicity and elegance, accompanied with modern and refined aesthetics. During the 1960's, the couple designed the Bastiano sofa and the Vanessa bed...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather
- Afra and Tobia Scarpa Coronado Ivory Leather Four Seater Sofa, Italy, 1980By Afra & Tobia Scarpa, C&B ItaliaLocated in Le Grand-Saconnex, CHNice four seater sofa in Ivory leather, designed by Tobia and Afra Scarpa. Very comfortable with its deep fluffy cushions and top quality leather, this sofa is the flagship of the "C...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather