Rare Piero Fornasetti Cabinet
View Similar Items
Rare Piero Fornasetti Cabinet
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 86 in (218.44 cm)Width: 32 in (81.28 cm)Depth: 16 in (40.64 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1951/1968
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Great original conditionsome crazing,toning, and minor chips.
- Seller Location:West Palm Beach, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: 1208318432619
Fornasetti
The Italian artist, illustrator and furniture maker Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest and most imaginative design talents of the 20th century. He crafted an inimitable decorative style from a personal vocabulary of images that included birds, butterflies, hot-air balloons, architecture and — most frequently, and in some 500 variations — an enigmatic woman’s face based on that of the 19th-century opera singer Lina Cavalieri. Fornasetti used transfer prints of these images, rendered in the style of engravings, to decorate an endless variety of furnishings and housewares that ranged from chairs, tables and desks to dinner plates, lamps and umbrella stands. His work is archly clever, often surreal and always fun.
Fornasetti was born in Milan, the son of an accountant, and he lived his entire life in the city. He showed artistic talent as a child and enrolled at Milan’s Brera Academy of Fine Art in 1930, but was expelled after two years for consistently failing to follow his professors’ orders. A group of his hand-painted silk scarves, displayed in the 1933 Triennale di Milano, caught the eye of the architect and designer Gio Ponti, who, in the 1940s, became Fornasetti’s collaborator and patron. Beginning in the early 1950s, they created a striking a series of desks, bureaus and secretaries that pair Ponti’s signature angular forms with Fornasetti’s decorative motifs — lighthearted arrangements of flowers and birds on some pieces, austere architectural imagery on others. The two worked together on numerous commissions for interiors, though their greatest project has been lost: the first-class lounges and restaurants of the luxury ocean liner Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956.
Fornasetti furnishings occupy an unusual and compelling niche in the decorative arts: they are odd yet pack a serious punch. They act, essentially, as functional sculpture. A large Fornasetti piece such as a cabinet or a desk can change the character of an entire room; his smaller works have the aesthetic power of a vase of flowers, providing a bright and alluring decorative note. The chimerical, fish-nor-fowl nature of Fornasetti’s work may be its greatest strength. It stands on its own. Bringing the Fornasetti look into the future is Barnaba Fornasetti, who took the reins of the company after his father's death.
- Piero Fornasetti Boxer Umbrella StandBy FornasettiLocated in West Palm Beach, FLPiero Fornasetti Boxer Umbrella Stand A whimsical example. Late 1970s/80s exampleCategory
Vintage 1970s Italian Umbrella Stands
MaterialsMetal
- Piero Fornasetti Mani Con Farfalle VaseBy FornasettiLocated in West Palm Beach, FLPiero Fornasetti collaborated with Studio Ars Labor,Industrie Riunite (S.A.L.I.R.) on a series of cold -painted enamel vases in 1935. Originally debuted at the VI Triennial of Veni...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Vases
- Vintage Piero Fornasetti Strumenti Musical or Libri ScreenBy FornasettiLocated in West Palm Beach, FLAn iconic mid-size screen depicting a library shelf on one side and musical instruments on the verso. A period example, circa 1954. Measures: 53 1/2" high.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Screens and Room Dividers
MaterialsWood
- Vintage Piero Fornasetti Ceramiche Panel/PlaqueBy Piero FornasettiLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA lithographic transfer-printed masonite panel. Originally designed for the Hilton Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey Fornasetti: the complete universe page 456.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Decorative Art
MaterialsMasonite
- Vintage Fornasetti Oggetti Con Nastro Wastebasket / Trash CanBy FornasettiLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA wonderful example of this form. This example was deaccessioned from the Fornasetti Archives. Original surface is very nice.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Decorative Baskets
MaterialsMetal
- Piero Dorazio Mixed-Media on PaperBy Piero Dorazio 1Located in West Palm Beach, FLPiero Dorazio mixed-media on paper "Senza Titolo" executed 2004.Category
Early 2000s Italian Contemporary Art
MaterialsPaper
- Vintage Desk Cabinet in Teak, 1960sBy WK MöbelLocated in HEILOO, NLTeak wooden cabinet with fold-out desk, produced in Germany in the 1960s. The cabinet has 2 doors with lock and stands on adjustable metal legs. The top of the cabinet folds fo...Category
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Secretaires
MaterialsMetal
- Antique Swedish Secretary Cabinet 19th CenturyLocated in Houston, TX19th Century Swedish Secretary Desk with open book shelves above the fall front desk and bottom cabinet doors. The desk section has multiple sma...Category
Antique 19th Century Swedish Gustavian Secretaires
MaterialsWood
- Antonino Gorgone Midcentury Secretaire / Desk Cabinet, Italy, circa 1950By Antonino GorgoneLocated in Pijnacker, Zuid-HollandItalian midcentury writing desk / secretaire in Italian cherry. It has an extractable writing leaf. Designer: Stabilimenti Napoli Manufacturer: Antonino Gorgone...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Secretaires
MaterialsCherry
- Extraordinary Colorful Rococo Style Painted Secretary Cabinet with ChairLocated in Bridgeport, CTCustom painted in a striking blue exterior with an electric and contrasting green interior and having a strong form, ornate gilt hinges and pulls, escutcheons (with keys) and Top fin...Category
Vintage 1940s Rococo Revival Secretaires
MaterialsMetal
- Swiss Early 19th Century Empire Bureau Cabinet, Signed HirschgartnerLocated in Worpswede / Bremen, DEThis fine Empire drop-front secretary (secrétaire a'abattant or secrétaire en armoire) with a writing and standing desk is signed M. Hirschgartner. Hans Martin Hirschgartner (1766-18...Category
Antique 19th Century Swiss Empire Secretaires
MaterialsMarble
- Bamboo Secretary Cabinet Desk with Turned Bronze Legs and Bronze HingesBy Chris LehreckeLocated in Bangall, NYThe bamboo secretary is a contemporary take on a traditional cabinet used for letter writing. The beautiful bronze hinges are contrasted with a modern bamboo laminate product for the case, with turned metal legs. All the drawers run on bamboo slats...Category
21st Century and Contemporary American Desks
MaterialsBronze, Steel