Osvaldo Borsani Splendid Mahogany Commode, Milano, 1950s
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Osvaldo Borsani Splendid Mahogany Commode, Milano, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:Osvaldo Borsani (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 35.44 in (90 cm)Width: 61.03 in (155 cm)Depth: 18.9 in (48 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1955
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. To be perfect must be polished with Gommalacca.
- Seller Location:Milano, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU1689216428861
Osvaldo Borsani
With his stylish and technically innovative furniture, Osvaldo Borsani helped change the face of Italian design in the 1950s and ’60s. His sofas and chairs, featuring deeply upholstered seating and adjustable position settings, have an aura of optimism and efficiency that still seems fresh and lively today.
Born in the commune of Varedo in northern Italy’s Lombardy region, Borsani studied at the Brera Academy in Milan — the same school attended by such luminaries as designer Piero Fornasetti and artist Lucio Fontana — as well as the Polytechnic University of Milan. Borsani first worked for his father’s furniture-making firm, Arredamenti Borsani, an atelier influenced by the more expressive and curvaceous wing of Art Deco design. By 1953, when, along with his twin brother, Fulgenzio — the pair also created this visionary mid-century villa — Borsani opened the furniture company Tecno, his design sensibilities had evolved toward furnishings with strong, simple forms enhanced by mechanical innovations, as with the P40 adjustable armchair (1953). Borsani would be the firm’s lead designer for 30 years, while fostering work by Vico Magistretti, Carlo di Carli, Robin Day and others.
Similar to Gio Ponti in the earliest years of his career, Borsani first created designs marked by lush and buoyant lines: tables with voluptuous curved legs, sofas with undulating backrests. But Borsani’s best-known and most novel pieces date from Tecno’s initial furniture lines: the adjustable D70 sofa, which folds open to make a daybed, and the P40 recliner. The latter — now included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum — is an articulated lounger with a back, seat and leg rest that can be moved into 486 different positions. Not only is it extremely comfortable, it is also enduringly chic.
Find a collection of vintage Osvaldo Borsani tables, dining chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.
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$5,666 Sale Price24% Off - Mid-Century Art Decò Venetian Baroque Commode by Gaetano e Osvaldo BorsaniBy Osvaldo Borsani, Gaetano BorsaniLocated in Vigonza, PaduaElegant Venetian chest of drawers from the 1930s produced by Gaetano Borsani and attributed to the young Osvaldo Borsani, with shaped top and rounded shapes with 4 drawers, made of veneered walnut. Golden brass opening handles. Revised and wax polished. His two bedside tables published with code FP12b About Gaetano e Osvaldo Borsani Osvaldo Borsani (born 1911, Varedo, Italy–died 1985, Milano, Italy) was an Italian designer and architect, born into a family of furniture makers with along and well established artisanal tradition. His father, Gaetano Borsani, owned his own furniture shop, the Atelier di Varedo, where the 16-year-old Osvaldo received his first training. At that time, the designer of the atelier was the architect Gino Maggioni, who brought with him influences of the early 20th century Jugendstil movement from Vienna and who instilled in the young Borsani an appreciation for the arts and crafts and furniture making. Osvaldo Borsani first studied fine arts at Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera in Milan, graduating in 1931, and then pursued studies in architecture at Politecnico di Milano, where he graduated in 1936. In 1933, two years before graduating as an architect, Borsani designed the Casa Minima project for the V Triennale di Milano (Milan Triennial), along with architects Cairoli and Varisco. This project earned him a silver medal for its Rationalist code and geometries, and he received positive reviews from the critic Edoardo Persico of Casabella magazine. Villa Borsani And Other Prominent Architectural Work In 1937, Osvaldo Borsani designed Villa Presenti in Forte dei Marmi, a sea town in Tuscany where the Italian aristocracy and industrial elite would build their houses, a project that displayed the same rationalistic rigor displayed in Casa Minima, but softened by the use of mediterranean finishes and materials. Villa Borsani designed by Osvaldo Borsani. Varedo, Italy Villa Borsani. Varedo, Italy In 1943, Osvaldo designed and built his own house, the Villa Borsani, in Varedo, which, despite being conceptualized under strict Rationalist principles, incorporated objects and art of younger artists that communicate a freer approach to the human expression. The Villa Borsani project involved artists such as Adriano Spilimbergo, Fausto Melotti, Lucio Fontana (who made the ceramic fireplace and the ceramic Madonna), and Agenore Fabbri (who made the bronze statue in the staircase). To this day, Villa Borsani has been preserved with most of its original furniture and it remains with Osvaldo Borsani’s family along with the extensive archives of his work. Osvaldo Borsani As a Successful Product and Furniture Designer After Villa Borsani, Osvaldo continued to develop many projects for the Milanese bourgeoisie, frequently with many of the same artists whom he employed for his villa. A particularly strong relationship was the one that Osvaldo developed with artist Lucio Fontana, a close friend since the time of the Accademia de Belle Arti di Brera, and whom Borsani assigned to make a large metal balcony for the Tecno company in 1956. Osvaldo Borsani’s design work, just as his larger architectural projects, which he also considered design work, very often incorporated elements created by other artists and designers such as: Roberto Crippa, Arnaldo and Giò Pomodoro, Agenore Fabbri, Fausto Melotti, Andrea Cascella...Category
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