1950's Italian shelving unit by Vittorio Dassi

Collectors of vintage mid-century modern furniture will find that the work of Italian designer Vittorio Dassi is elegant and sculptural, brimming with all of the clean, angular lines and pleasing symmetry associated with the best of the era’s offerings. While Dassi's name is less known to enthusiasts of the period’s furniture than the likes of Ico and Luisa Parisi, Franco Albini and other leading lights of mid-20th century Italian design, his case pieces, tables and seating will prove no less worthy of hunting down at today's flea markets and online marketplaces.

Wood was Dassi's preferred material — he favored rosewood, mahogany, walnut and other species for his covetable desks and wall units, which frequently featured decorative flourishes such as glass inlays, while a sideboard or buffet’s fronts might boast hand-carved geometric cutouts in lieu of brass door handles. 

While little is known about Dassi's early life, it is believed that his career in furniture design began in 1940 at his family's company Dassi Mobili Moderni, in Lissone, Italy. Shortly thereafter, he took over managing the company from his father.

While Dassi produced dry bars and other case pieces during the 1950s that featured the motifs and ornament that are today attributed to the Art Deco movement, he created sumptuous mahogany nightstands topped with black glass and minimalist teak coffee tables that better represented the forward-looking spirit of mid-century modernism. His wall units of the era for Mobili Cantù are works of art — crafted in walnut and featuring birch veneers and high-gloss lacquer finishes as well as a single door front decorated with an abstract painting or otherwise provocative illustration, these structures would undoubtedly prove quite impressive to the likes of Poul Cadovius and George Nelson.

Dassi often collaborated with Italian architect, editor and furniture designer Gio Ponti. Ponti designed thousands of furnishings and products — from cabinets, mirrors and chairs to ceramics and coffeemakers — and his buildings, including the brawny Pirelli Tower (1956) in his native Milan, and the castle-like Denver Art Museum (1971), were erected in 14 countries. A collaboration between Dassi and Ponti of note is the pair’s work on the Hotel Royal in Naples — Ponti was commissioned to design the hotel and he partnered with Dassi to design the hotel's furnishings. 

Today, Dassi Mobili Moderni S.R.L. is still in operation in Lissone.

Find vintage Vittorio Dassi furniture on 1stDibs.