Items Similar to Early Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table Bastiano by Tobia & Afra Scarpa for Gavina

Coffee table, design by Tobia & Afra Scarpa for Gavina, Bastiano collection

Mid-Century Modern Italian Coffee or Sofa Table by Afra & Tobia Scarpa, 1960s

Afra & Tobia Scarpa Mid-Century Walnut Coffee Table for Cassina, Italy 1960s

Afra & Tobia Scarpa Italian Wood Black & White Coffe Table for Cassina, 1960s

Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table, Afra e Tobia Scarpa Style, Wax Polished

Scarpa 'Bastiano' Coffee Table for Gavina/Knoll International, Italy, 1960s

Want more images or videos?

Request additional images or videos from the seller

1 of 12

Early Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table Bastiano by Tobia & Afra Scarpa for Gavina

About the Item

This low coffee table was designed by the architectural duo Tobia and Afra Scarpa in 1962 and manufactured by the Italian manufacture Gavina. It is an early production table from the Bastiano series. It is made of teak wood and finished in a dark shade of brown. The top is placed loosely on a wooden frame. It is a real example of functional, yet stylish, modern Italian design. Afra and Tobia Scarpa are an award-winning duo of postmodern Italian architects. Their works can be found in museums in the United States and Europe, including collections at MoMA and the Louvre. They have cooperated with companies such as B&B Italia, San Lorenzo Silver and Knoll International. They have won numerous awards, such as the Compasso d'Oro in 1969 at the International Forum Design in 1992. Their design work covers architecture and everyday objects, including furniture, interior design and art glass. In their projects, they focused on the technical and aesthetic possibilities of materials. The couple was strongly influenced by Tobia's father, Carlo Scarpa, a Venetian architect and designer. In the early 1960s, Tobia started designing modern furniture based on the principles of Le Corbusier. He and his wife, Afra, have designed for some of the biggest names in Italian design, including Cassina and Gavina. Gavina was the furniture manufacturer of many influential Italian modernists, including the Castiglioni brothers, Carlo and Tobia Scarpa, Cini Boeri, Roberto Sebastian Matty, Vico Magistretti and Mario Bellini. In 1968 it was taken over by the Knoll company. Knoll Studio was founded in 1946 by Hans Knoll, the son of a German furniture manufacturer, and his wife Florence Knoll. It was Florence who was responsible for the departure of the companies from Scandinavian design and the orientation of the collection to the International style, which we see today, for example in the designs of Tobia and Afra Scarpa. This table is in original vintage condition with minor age marks, scrapes.

Creator:

Gavina (Maker),Afra & Tobia Scarpa (Designer)

Dimensions:

Height: 13 in (33 cm)Width: 29.53 in (75 cm)Depth: 29.93 in (76 cm)

Style:

Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)

Materials and Techniques:

Teak

Place of Origin:

Italy

Period:

1960-1969

Date of Manufacture:

1960

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. This table is in original vintage condition with minor age marks, scrapes.

Seller Location:

Warszawa, PL

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU6129227878422

View Invoice

Shop All Afra & Tobia Scarpa

Afra & Tobia Scarpa

Widely recognized as superstars of postmodern Italian design, husband-and-wife team Afra and Tobia Scarpa (1937–2011; b. 1935) collaboratively created chairs, sofas and other furniture that work equally well in both traditional and cutting-edge environments.

Ranging from architecture and interior design to furniture and clothing, the Scarpas’ practice from its beginnings in the mid-1950s to the 21st century has included a diverse scope of projects combining new technology with thoughtful function and sculptural yet simple forms.

Afra Bianchin and Tobia Scarpa met as architecture students at the Università Iuav di Venezia. In a class led by architect and furniture designer Franco Albini, they created their first collaborative piece, the Pigreco armchair, later produced with Gavina. After graduating in 1957, Tobia worked for Murano glass company Venini & Co. before the couple opened a studio in Afra’s hometown, Montebelluna, in 1960. (Tobia, the son of famed glass artist and architect Carlo Scarpa, was born in Venice.)

For Afra and Tobia, a close collaborative process was pivotal to the success of their designs. The duo was also prolific — they designed for the most influential European manufacturers, including B&B Italia, Cassina, Knoll and FLOS. With respect to the latter, Afra and Tobia were among the legendary Italian lighting maker’s earliest collaborators, and their pioneering designs for the brand included the Papillon lamp, one of the first fixtures to use halogen technology. Their most recognized designs include the Bastiano sofa (1962), the Vanessa bed (1959), the Coronado sofa (1966) and the Soriana seating collection (1970). Work on the Soriana sofa began in late 1969 for an early 1970 debut, and it feels as radical today as it did in its heyday.

Architecture was also a central part of Afra and Tobia’s practice, which spanned residential buildings and factories for Italian companies such as Benetton. Their commissions for the global fashion brand included numerous industrial projects, from textile plants to storefronts. By 1985, Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s work was celebrated in a 30-year retrospective at Center Four in Queens, New York. Looking around the 30,000-square-foot exhibition space, Afra joked to the New York Times, “Seeing all those things makes us feel very tired, and now we feel that maybe we worked too much.”

It was not too much for their legacy, as Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s work continues to inspire new generations. Scarpa designs are in collections at the Louvre, the Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The couple was awarded the Compasso d’Oro in 1970 for the Soriana armchair.

Find vintage Afra & Tobia Scarpa furniture today on 1stDibs.