Paolo Buffa, Dry Bar, Rosewood, Mirrors and Drawers, Italy, 1950s

Italian bar trolley or 1950s dry bar in lacquered walnut, bright white inside. Attributable to Cesare Lacca Outside there is a Venice press. The bar automatically switches on when...

Unique midcentury cubic dry bar in lacquered ash wood, mirrored steel and glass dry bar with hidden wheels. Willy Rizzo probably produced this incredible piece of barware in Italy during the 1970s. The wheeled bar cart's four sides are in mirrored chromed steel, while the top is in dark smoked glass. It moves thanks to four hidden wheels, and the structure is veneered black lacquered oak. A design masterpiece that will become a cult furniture element in a midcentury bar or living room. Italian designer and photographer Willy Rizzo (1928-2013) first came to prominence in the 1960s as both a chronicler of and participant in La Dolce Vita, the glamorous, jet set lifestyle enjoyed by many international celebrities and socialites in the postwar era. While photography was Rizzo's first love, in the 1970s he developed a passion for interiors and launched a second successful career as a luxury furniture designer. Rizzo was born in Naples in 1928 but moved to France early. After expressing an interest in photography at the age of 12, Rizzo's mother gifted him an Agfa Box camera; soon he was shooting portraits of his classmates at Paris's Istituto Statale Italiano Leonardo Da Vinci. In the 1940s, Rizzo began his career as a photojournalist, working for several French publications, including Ciné Mondial, Point de Vue, and Image du Monde. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Rizzo notably covered the Nuremberg Trials and travelled to Tunisia for Point de Vue to photograph the conflict in North Africa, later published in Life Magazine. As his reputation grew, he was hired by France Dimanche to take portraits of the rich and famous at flashy events like the Cannes Film Festival. Rizzo's charm won the trust of royalty, dignitaries, and movie stars, allowing him to capture these public figures in unusually candid moments. Hoping to advance his career further, Rizzo travelled to New York with Black Star Agency in 1947 to photograph American starlets. When he returned to Paris two years later, he was invited to join Jean Prouvost’s newest publication in colour, Paris Match, as head photographer—a position that he held for 20 years and, along the way, sparked a new culture of celebrity photographers who were as intriguing and fashionable as their subjects. In 1959, he became the artistic director of Marie Claire and collaborated with other fashion magazines, such as Vogue. Throughout his career, Rizzo photographed dozens of stars, including Brigitte Bardot, Maria Callas, Salvador Dalí, Marlene Dietrich, Jane Fonda, Gene Kelly, and Gregory Peck, as well as striking up close friendships with famous personalities like Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, and Jack Nicholson. In 1962, Rizzo famously captured some of the last moments of Marilyn Monroe’s life on film before tragically committing suicide a few weeks later. In 1968, Rizzo married Italian actress Elsa Martinelli, and the pair relocated to Rome. It was here that Rizzo began his work in furniture design, starting with his newly-leased, run-down Roman apartment. Just for personal use (at first), Rizzo created a series one-of-a-kind pieces inspired by modernist icons, such as Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier. But as his glitterati friends—Rodolfo Parisi, Gigli Rizzi, Franco Rapetti, Salvador Dalí, Brigitte Bardot, and the like—became admirers of his work, Rizzo was flooded with design commissions. Rizzo went on to furnish apartments for Italian aristocracy in the Palazzo Borghese and Palazzo Ruspoli that same year and quickly earned an international reputation as a designer to the rich and famous. In response to ever-growing demand, he launched his own Tivoli-based company dedicated to contemporary furniture design handmade in lux materials such as wood, marble, stainless steel, brass, and wild boar. Over time, his team of eight grew to 150, and he was able to open shops in France and throughout Europe, as well as in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. With an emphasis on clean lines and geometric forms, Rizzo's tables, chairs, and accessories combined contemporary shapes with traditional materials—in contrast to many of his contemporaries, like Ettore Sottsass and Vico Magistretti, who were popularizing plastic, foam, and other synthetics in furniture production. Rizzo's most successful designs are many low, box-like tables in granite, metal, glass, or burled wood, often embellished with brass or chrome accents or built-in liquor cabinets or trays. Two examples of his most celebrated designs include the Alveo Coffee Table (1970s) for Mario Sabot and the circular Yin Yang Coffee Table...

Lovely small bookcase or drybar in rattan and bamboo. This stunning piece was produced by Vivai del Sud in Italy in the 1960s. This versatile piece features a gorgeous ladder-like s...

Spectacular coffee table in teak, black enameled iron and brass. This wonderful object was produced in Italy in the 1960s. Everything in this article is classy: the materials, wit...

Fantastic midcentury Italian serving bar cart in cherry wood, with metal finishes. This cart was designed in Italy by Cesare Lacca during the 1950s. This elegant piece has two shelves, fully made in solid cherry wood with stunning wood grains. The four metal wheels have been kept with the original patina which results in a beautiful contrast together with the wood. A lovely trolley bar cart with simple straight lines that will donate charm and elegance to your bar. Measures in cm: 47 Depth 80 Width 82 Handle Height - 61 Top shelf height - 21 Lower shelf height Born in Naples in 1929, Italian architect-designer Cesare Lacca created modernist furniture and metalwork throughout the 1950s. Though details of his personal life and professional training remain lost to history, there are sufficient surviving primary sources that document his many elegant designs in brasswork for which he is the best know and which fetch high prices from collectors. Like many Italian designers in the 20th century, Lacca moved to Milan after World War II to launch his career. Before he was even 21 years old, his work was selected by a group of American curators for inclusion in the landmark exhibition Italy at Work: Her Renaissance in Design Today that toured 12 US museums between 1950 and 1953—the first major exhibition of Italian design outside of Italy. The exhibition showcased the best and brightest of Italian designers who had embraced modernist principles and rejuvenated traditional Italian crafts, like Carlo Mollino, Franco Albini, and Gio Ponti In the exhibition catalogue, curator Meyric R. Roger’s spotlights Lacca's expert achievements in brass, noting “the variety and quality of his creations,” which “place him high among the architect-designers leading the current [Modernist] movement." Rogers adds, "The quality of his work...provide[s] all the decorative effectiveness needed without strain or exaggeration”. Lacca designed a great many tea carts and serving trolleys in his career—which make up a large proportion of what is available on the vintage market today—as well as magazine racks and coffee tables. Lacca’s most iconic tea cart was manufactured by Italian brand Cassina and features sculpted beech, cedar, teak, or walnut with brass details, a glass tabletop, and a removable glass tray. Lacca also designed high-backed lounge chairs, which were regularly featured in Arredoluce advertisements for Angelo Lelli’s lighting...

Very rare midcentury bar cart in white plastic and chromed metal. This piece is in very good condition, was designed in Italy during the 1950s. A wonderful piece that will complet...

Elegant Italian sideboard bar cabinet with six drawers and brass handles and sabots, centered by a bar cabinet with two doors. Very good vintage condition.

Italian 1950s bar cabinet attributed to Paolo Buffa in mahogany and birch with parchment paper painted panels.

Cocktail bar in walnut and mixed exotic woods. Three panel door open to reveal ample storage compartments equipped with drawers and units with mirror where to collect refined glasswa...

Very elegant Italian Art Deco Mid-Century Modern dry bar cabinet cart characterized by its original Asian themed painted front wood pull-out tilt door with interior part in mirror glass, standing on its antique brass wheels...

Beautiful and functional Italian mobile bar in light walnut with mirrored interiors and brass fittings. Inlaid wood pattern on the front and sides of the doors, with diamond shaped d...

Superb bar cabinet designed by the famous architect Paolo Buffa, in walnut, mahogany and brass finishes, the inside of the cabinet is covered with decorated mirror squares, the top o...