Italian Buffets

Pier luigi Colli oak sideboard, Mid-Century Modern, Italy, 1950s Beautiful oak sideboard. The oak has lovely patina throughout the piece. It is a large-scale sideboard with four doors and architectural details throughout. Amazing oak grain visible throughout the piece. Smoked glass mirrors cover the front doors. The piece is in original vintage condition. Measures: 19 inches deep 93 inches wide 33 inches high Hays Company/Pier Luigi Colli The firm was founded in Turin in 1850, as a laboratory that embroidered for the upholstery of armchairs and sofas. The manufactory collaborated with the Martinotti and C.ia furniture manufacturer, Giuseppe and then Luigi Martinotti, who since 1831 produced luxury furniture in style and from the end of the century in the most up-to-date liberty style. At the death of Federico Martinotti, the last male descendant of the family, in the twenties, the widow gave way to Teresa and Maria Colli and the two companies reunited, assuming the name "Colli da 1831" (with the date they referred To the foundation of the firm Martinotti). Then came Pier Luigi Colli (1895-1968), younger brother of the two holders who had attended the courses of the École des arts décoratifs. Pier Luigi Colli, thanks to his close relationship with Paris, imported Lalique glasses and Jean Perzel decor lamps in Turin. The company took care of the real train setup, built by Fiat Ferroviaria and the technical office, led by Pier Luigi Colli, designed and produced the chairs of the Magna University of Turin and the furniture of the Turin seat of the Bank Italy and the Prefecture. In addition to the furniture, the company produced embroidery for coverings and curtains, carpets, lamps with Seguso glasses, door locks and door handles. The company also carried out works designed by external architects: Gio Ponti (partition walls and windows in the Turin headquarters of Vembi), Giovanni Gariboldi (furnishings for the Richard Ginori showroom in Rome), Carlo Mollino (railing of the RAI auditorium and window frames Of the Royal Theater), Domenico Morelli (furniture of the Rai skyscraper); Gabetti and Isola (neoliberty furniture on the stock exchange) Aldo Morbelli (furniture of Fasano jewelery in Via Roma...

Large sideboard is entirely realized in oak wood, with four drawers on each side (for a total of eight drawers) and a central storage unit. Designed by Pier Luigi Colli Italian Manufacture from 1938 ca. To reconstruct the story of Pier Luigi Colli, we must take a leap back to the 19th century in Turin, a multifaceted city, in some ways controversial due to its austere and sometimes introverted character, but at the core of a creative drive: and if it is primarily known for its automobile industry, there was a time when Turin was at the height of fame also in the field of furniture and embroidery, thanks to the presence of two entrepreneurial realities. On the one hand there was the MIRAM (Italian Hand-Made Embroidery Manufacture) founded by Pietro Colli in 1850, specializing in gobelin fabrics and bandera embroideries. His daughter Teresa traveled between Italy and Paris to discover the latest trends in fabrics and embroidery, while her younger brother, Pier Luigi Colli (1895-1968), the star of this story, joined the company in 1921. Distinguishing himself for his enterprising personality and willing to continue his father's profession, Pier Luigi was known to his contemporaries as "the artist interior designer", and had no doubts about his future: he moved temporarily to Paris, where he attended L'Ecole des Beaux Arts Décoratives. The other great Turin manufacturer to be mentioned is Martinotti, founded in 1931 by Giuseppe Martinotti and supplier of fine furnishings for the Savoy court, pieces which were characterized by a typically 19th century eclectic style, generally made of exotic woods featuring ivory and tortoiseshell inlays: at that time, Martinotti represented the top of internationality, having even participated in the 1875 Philadelphia exhibition! The two brands' fate merged in 1902, a decisive year for Turin which, hosting the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art, became the cradle of the spread of the Liberty style in Italy. In the exhibition, Martinotti exhibited an elegant interior, in which all the textile parts, from the curtains to the seat upholstery, was made by Colli. It was in 1926 that Colli (MIRAM) finally acquired Martinotti, founding a laboratory where, from the savoir faire of the two companies, complete pieces of furniture were created and tailor-made for the customer, from the structure to its upholstery. Meanwhile, Pier Luigi Colli was living in Paris, the ideal place to be in 1925, when the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts brought him closer to the work of one of his putative fathers, the great French cabinet maker Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann (Paris, 1879 - 1933). Thanks to Paris, Pier Luigi intertwined contacts with the international beau monde, he started to import Lalique glass from France, while the Colli's clientele expanded and special commissions arrived, such as the creation of the Royal Train of the Savoy family made with Fiat, or the lecture hall in the University of Turin. The success of a brand is also measured by its openness to establishing collaborations with the great designers of its time, in the case of Colli resulting in important creative partnerships: from Gio Ponti, who relied on the brand for his Richard Ginori project in Rome, up to Carlo Mollino, who created with Colli the handrails of the RAI (national TV) auditorium and the windows of the Teatro Regio in Turin; also in Turin, the Morbelli architects collaborated with Colli for the furnishings of the RAI skyscraper, and the architects Gabetti Isola for the interiors of the Stock Exchange in Turin. In the 40s and 50s, having opened a branch in Rome, Colli was at the peak of productivity. The embroidery and textile section continued to be one of its strengths, keeping alive the relations with France and its great masters: among the inspirations were the geometric shapes of the fabrics of Ruhlmann's interiors, or the tactile carpets made by designer Mariod Dorn. And so, another Colli trademark become the "textured carpet...

Taste and Italian flavor for this typical sideboard of Pier Luigi Colli. Classic in his design but very refined in the process of working of the materials. The sideboard consists of...