Fontana Arte Italian Mid-Century Brass and Glass Low / Coffee Tables
About the Item
- Creator:Fontana Arte (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 16.5 in (41.91 cm)Width: 42 in (106.68 cm)Depth: 24 in (60.96 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:20th Century
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:
Fontana Arte
Best known for its elegant and innovative vintage lighting fixtures, the Milan-based firm Fontana Arte pioneered one of the key features of 20th-century and contemporary Italian design: the union of artistry and industry wrought by partnerships between creative talents — chiefly architects — and entrepreneurial businesses. Fontana Arte is further distinguished by having had as artistic director, in succession, four of Italy’s most inventive modernist designers: Gio Ponti, Pietro Chiesa, French transplant Max Ingrand and Gae Aulenti.
The bread and butter of the glassmaking company that Luigi Fontana founded in 1881 was plate-glass panels for the construction industry. In 1930, Fontana met Ponti — then the artistic director of the Richard Ginori ceramics workshop and the editor of the influential magazine Domus — at a biannual design exhibition that became the precursor to today’s Milan Design Triennale, and the two hatched an idea for a furniture and housewares firm. Fontana Arte was incorporated in 1932 with Ponti as its chief of design. He contributed several lamps that remain among the company’s signature works, including the orb-atop-cone Bilia table lamp and the 0024 pendant — a stratified hanging sphere.
The following year, Fontana Arte partnered with the influential Milan studio glassmaker and retailer Pietro Chiesa, who took over as artistic director. Chiesa’s designs for lighting — as well as for tables and items including vases and ashtrays — express an appreciation for fluidity and simplicity of line, as seen in works such as his flute-shaped Luminator floor lamp and the 1932 Fontana table — an arched sheet of glass that is held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Six years after Chiesa’s 1948 death, the École des Beaux Arts–trained Max Ingrand took over as head of design at Fontana Arte. Ingrand brought a similarly expressive formal sensibility to wares such as lamps and mirrors, but he also had a masterful eye for the manipulation of glass surfaces — whether they be cut, frosted, acid-etched or sand-blasted. His classic design is the Fontana table lamp of 1954, which has a truncated cone shade and curved body, both of which are made of pure, chic white-frosted glass.
Following Ingrand, the often-audacious Italian architect Gae Aulenti served as the company’s artistic director from 1979 to 1996, and while she generally insisted that furnishings take second place aesthetically to architecture, she made an exception for Fontana Arte pieces such as the Tavolo con Ruote series of glass coffee and dining tables on wheels, bold lighting pieces such as the Parola series and the Giova, a combination flower vase and table lamp. As a key incubator of modern design under Aulenti’s tenure, Fontana Arte remained true to its long-held commitment — creating objects that have never been less than daring.
Find vintage Fontana Arte lighting fixtures such as pendants, table lamps and more on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Long Island City, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
- Pair of Fontana Arte Italian Midcentury Brass and Glass Low / Coffee TablesBy Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYPair of Italian midcentury low / coffee tables with x-form brass faux bamboo frames with branch-like upper supports that hold rectangular clear glass tops with rounded corners. (Font...Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Fontana Arte Italian Mid-Century Brass and Glass ChandelierLocated in New York, NYItalian (1960's) glass chandelier with a central brass rod supporting 6 staggered layers of beveled glass decorated with applied colored glass disks (att: FONTANA ARTE)Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Italian Mid-Century Fontana Arte Glass Dome LanternBy Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYItalian 1940s clear glass dome form lantern with an etched design of leaves and a white metal painted and scalloped bottom with a finial.Category
Early 20th Century Lanterns
MaterialsGlass
- American Mid-Century Brass and Glass Coffee Table SetLocated in New York, NYAmerican Mid-Century brass round coffee table with a glass top with acorn finials and a lower stretcher which fits four small wedge-shaped glass top tables.Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- French Mid-Century Francois Monnet Chrome and Smoked Glass Low Coffee TableBy François MonnetLocated in New York, NYFrench Mid-Century chrome coffee table with a square inset glass top that lays in the center of the table resting on exagerated cabriole legs (FRANCOIS MONNET) Condition Notes:Category
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsChrome
- 2 Italian Mid-Century Modern Steel and Glass Coffee TablesLocated in New York, NY2 Italian Mid-Century Modern/1940s-style steel coffee tables with rope design frame and stretcher and one inch glass tops. (PRICED EACH).Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Neoclassical Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
- Mid-Century Fontana Arte Attributed Glass and Brass Coffee Table, Italy, 1970sBy Fontana ArteLocated in Catania, CTGood vintage condition with trace of age and use for this coffe table made from solid brass and thick glass. Attributed to Fontana Arte and produced in Italy during the 70s. Original...Category
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- 1950s Fontana Arte Style Mid-Century Modern Glass and Brass Italian Coffee TableBy Fontana ArteLocated in Aci Castello, ITThis Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table designed and manufactured in Italy in the Fifties in the manner of Fontana Arte is a beautiful and iconic piece of furniture. It combines the ele...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Mid-Century Italian Coffee Table Glass Attributed Fontana Arte, 1950sBy Fontana ArteLocated in Saint Ouen, FRStunning wooden coffee table with a very thick glass top. Italian work attributed to Fontana Arte from the 1950s, certainly a special order. Beautiful dimension with its 1m 40 in len...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsGlass, Wood
- Fontana Arte Coffee Table Brass Glass 1955 ItalyBy Fontana ArteLocated in Milano, ITFontana Arte coffee’ table.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Other Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Petit Fontana Arte Mid-Century Modern Brass & Glass Rectangle Coffee Table Mint!By Gio Ponti, Fontana ArteLocated in Rockaway, NJPetit Fontana Arte Mid-Century Modern brass & 3/4" glass rectangle coffee table mint!Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Center Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Glass & Brass Coffee Table Attributed to Fontana Arte, Italy, 1970sBy Fontana ArteLocated in Rome, ITRectangular coffee table in glass with brass details attributed to Fontana Arte. Made in Italy in the 1970s.Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal, Brass
