Ettore Sottsass Cantone Shelves
View Similar Items
Ettore Sottsass Cantone Shelves
About the Item
- Creator:Ettore Sottsass (Designer),Zanotta (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 70.87 in (180 cm)Width: 31.5 in (80 cm)Depth: 31.5 in (80 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1981
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:Seller: E1171stDibs: LU1420215068071
Ettore Sottsass
An architect, industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, Ettore Sottsass led a revolution in the aesthetics and technology of modern design in the late 20th century.
Sottsass was the oldest member of the Memphis Group — a design collective, formed in Milan in 1980, whose irreverent, spirited members included Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Michael Graves and Shiro Kuramata. All had grown disillusioned by the staid, black-and-brown “corporatized” modernism that had become endemic in the 1970s. Memphis (the name stemmed from the title of a Bob Dylan song) countered with bold, brash, colorful, yet quirkily minimal designs for furniture, glassware, ceramics and metalwork. They mocked high-status by building furniture with inexpensive materials such as plastic laminates, decorated to resemble exotic finishes such as animal skins. Their work was both functional and — as intended — shocking. Even as it preceded the Memphis Group's formal launch, Sottsass's iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell and radical pops of pink neon — embodies many of the collective's postmodern ideals.
Sottsass's most-recognized designs appeared in the first Memphis collection, issued in 1981 — notably the multihued, angular Carlton room divider and Casablanca bookcase. As pieces on 1stDibs demonstrate, however, Sottsass is at his most imaginative and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.
It was as an artist that Ettore Sottsass was celebrated in his life, in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 2006, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art a year later. Even then Sottsass’s work prompted critical debate. And for a man whose greatest pleasure was in astonishing, delighting and ruffling feathers, perhaps there was no greater accolade. That the work remains so revolutionary and bold — that it breaks with convention so sharply it will never be considered mainstream — is a testament to his genius.
Zanotta
Entrepreneur Aurelio Zanotta founded Zanotta in 1954 in Nova Milanese, Italy. Originally called Zanotta Poltrona, it specialized in traditional furniture. By the early 1960s, however, Zanotta had established a reputation for edgy mid-century modern design. Today’s vintage furniture collectors know the brand well for its innovative and wholly sculptural chairs, coffee tables and more.
One of Zanotta’s earliest successes was the Mezzadro stool — better known as the Tractor stool — designed by Pier Giacomo Castiglioni and his brother Achille in the late 1950s. In 1965, Zanotta was among the first furniture companies to work with expanded polyurethane foam and frameless construction, such as for the Throw-Away sofas and armchairs designed by Willie Landels. Another popular design was the Blow chair — designed by Jonathan De Pas, Donato D’Urbino, Paolo Lomazzi and Carla Scolari — viewed by many as a physical expression of late '60s carefree culture.
In 1969, amid the provocative movement we now call Italian Radical Design, Zanotta’s Sacco chair garnered major attention. The boundary-pushing beanbag chair was the brainchild of designers Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro who presented it to Aurelio Zanotta as a transparent vinyl sack loosely filled with small polystyrene balls. He suggested its signature brightly colored leather.
The Sacco chair won the 1970 ADI Design Museum’s Compasso d’Oro award. In 1972, the Museum of Modern Art in New York included it in the landmark exhibition “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” curated by designer Emilio Ambasz. In 2020, it received a Compasso d’Oro ADI Lifetime Achievement Award for 50 years of enduring popularity. It is now in museum collections around the world including the Triennale Design Museum of Milan, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, and London’s Victoria & Albert Museum.
After Aurelio Zanotta died in 1991, the company remained in his family and has been run by his three children since 2002. Zanotta continues to set the bar high for furniture design with trend-setting pieces.
On 1stDibs, find a collection of vintage Zanotta seating, tables and other furniture.
- Tejo Remy Mounted Wall Shelf, Netherlands 1995By Tejo RemyLocated in London, GBTejo Remy (1960) is a Dutch designer renowned for his industrial and brutalist aesthetics. He began designing for Droog Design in 1991 and now works together...Category
1990s Modern Shelves
MaterialsSteel
- Luca Meda Shelving Unit, Molteni, Italy, c1970By Luca Meda, Molteni & CLocated in London, GBLuca Meda grew up and studied in Milan, graduating from the renowned Art School of Brera in the heart of the city. He continued his studies in Germany, at the Hochschule für Gestaltu...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Shelves
MaterialsWood
- Jim Partridge and Liz Walmsley Shelving Unit, UK, 1987By Jim Partridge and Liz WalmsleyLocated in London, GBJim Partridge (1953-) and Liz Walmsley (1952-) started collaborating in 1986. Carved from blocks of green oak and then stained in a white finish, the she...Category
Vintage 1980s European Shelves
MaterialsOak
- Hans Eichenberger Galvanised Steel Amor Pillar Box Cupboard for Wogg SwitzerlandBy Hans EichenbergerLocated in London, GBHans Eichenberger (1926 – present) is a prominent Swiss designer whose work is represented at MoMA in New York, Vitra Design Museum and the Museum of Design in Zurich. His ingenuity ...Category
1990s Swiss Modern Bookcases
MaterialsSteel
- Architectural Sculpture by Sottsass for Ultima Edizione, Italy 1986By Ultima Edizione, Ettore SottsassLocated in London, GBEttore Sottsass (1917–2007) was an Italian architect and designer during the 20th century. He is perhaps most celebrated as the founder of the Memphis Group, famous for its colourful...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsMarble
- Architectural Sculpture by Sottsass for Ultima Edizione, Italy 1986By Ultima Edizione, Ettore SottsassLocated in London, GBEttore Sottsass (1917–2007) was an Italian architect and designer during the 20th century. He is perhaps most celebrated as the founder of the Memphis Group, famous for its colourful...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Abstract Sculptures
MaterialsMarble
- Suvretta Plastic Bookcase, by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano CollectionBy Memphis Milano, Ettore Sottsass, Memphis GroupLocated in La Morra, CuneoThe Suvretta bookcase in plastic laminate was originally designed in 1981, by Ettore Sottsass for Memphis Milano. Ettore Sottsass was born in Innsbruck in 1917. In 1939 he graduated...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Bookcases
MaterialsPlastic
- 1980s Red Memphis Design Period Etagere #1 Sottsass style Clear Glass PostmodernBy Ettore SottsassLocated in London, GBRed Italian etagere, very much in the manner of the Memphis Milano group, and originating from the 1980s. A tubular, powder-coated metal frame in a pleasing vermillion houses five cl...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Shelves
MaterialsMetal
$2,298 Sale Price20% Off - Ettore Sottsass Tartar PrototypeBy Ettore SottsassLocated in Naples, FLAn Ettore Sottsass masterwork, this unique "Tartar" table is museum worthy. It is perhaps a prototype or very rare special commission. The table differs from the production version w...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Sideboards
MaterialsMarble
$80,000 - Ettore Sottsass - "Carlton" BookcaseBy Ettore SottsassLocated in PAU, FRBookcase named "Carlton" design by Ettore Sottsass in 1981. Produced by Memphis Milano, Italie. Height : 198 cm Width : 190 cm Depth : 40 cmCategory
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Bookcases
MaterialsWood
- Zanotta Edizioni Nairobi Bar Cabinet in Red Veneered Laminate by Ettore SottsassBy Zanotta, Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYZanotta Edizioni Nairobi Bar Cabinet in Red Veneered Laminate by Ettore Sottsass Signed original. Red veneered laminate frame (design E. Sottsass). Base and inner frame with drawe...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Dry Bars
MaterialsWood
- Zanotta Edizioni Mombasa Chest of Drawers in Brown Painted by Ettore SottsassBy Zanotta, Ettore SottsassLocated in Brooklyn, NYZanotta Edizioni Mombasa Chest of Drawers in Brown Painted by Ettore Sottsass Signed original. Upper frame, lower drawer top and feet veneered in open pore dark brown painted ash. L...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Commodes and Chests of Drawers
MaterialsPearwood
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
We Dare You Not to Smile at These Whimsical Italian Designs
Make anyplace your happy place with Italian furniture at its subversive best.
With Zanotta House, an Italian Design Dream Home Lands in New York City
Alessia Genova takes us on a tour of her design for the eminent furniture maker’s new shoppable townhouse in Greenwich Village.