Quattro Gatti Fiberglass Table Set by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia, 1967
View Similar Items
Quattro Gatti Fiberglass Table Set by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia, 1967
About the Item
- Creator:B&B Italia (Manufacturer),Mario Bellini (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 9.85 in (25 cm)Width: 19.69 in (50 cm)Depth: 19.69 in (50 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 4
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (In the Style Of)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1967
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Hilversum, NL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU3922332085672
Mario Bellini
Milan-born architect and designer Mario Bellini just may be the closest thing to a modern-day Renaissance man: His creative output spans genres, from electronics to furniture to architecture to cars, comprising iconic designs in each. Vintage Mario Bellini sofas, dining chairs and other seating pieces are widely coveted, and the designer has been the recipient of multiple prestigious Compasso d’Oro awards. More than 20 of his works are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
Born in 1935, Bellini studied architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan before founding his own firm in his native city in the early 1960s. He soon branched out beyond architecture, however, first for the tech manufacturer Olivetti, where he served as chief industrial design consultant from 1963 to 1991. During that time, Bellini oversaw the design of some of Olivetti’s most popular typewriters.
His penchant for electronic design didn’t stop there: Bellini also designed cameras for Fuji, televisions for Brionvega and a slew of audio devices for Yamaha, then served as design consultant for Renault and devised the interior of the 1980 Lancia Trevi for Fiat. Meanwhile, his architecture work spans continents, including such modern gems as the Museum of Islamic Arts at the Louvre, the National Gallery of Victoria extension in Melbourne, the Dubai Creek Complex and the Milan Convention Centre in his hometown.
And then there’s the furniture: Over the last 70 years, Bellini has designed office furniture for Vitra; lamps for Artemide, Erco and FLOS; porcelain for Rosenthal and long-admired sofas and other seating for Kartell, Natuzzi, B&B Italia, Cassina and more.
His oft-imitated 1977 Cab chair for Cassina, comprising 16 individual pieces of saddle leather that create a “skin” over a minimal metal frame, remains one of the manufacturer’s best sellers today. His pudgy-legged, round tables for Cassina foreshadow Faye Toogood’s widely loved Roly Poly line. His postmodern Summa armchairs for Kartell, as well as his elegant Chiara floor lamp, still lure collectors on vintage furniture websites.
Bellini’s most famous contribution to furniture design, though, may be his 1970 Camaleonda sofa for B&B Italia (then C&B Italia). An entrant to the 1972 MoMA show “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape,” the seat takes its name from the Italian words for chameleon and wave. Its bulbous, modular form makes it infinitely flexible. The sofa was a runaway hit at the show and, once discontinued, remained so popular among vintage dealers that B&B Italia reissued it in 2020 with all recycled materials and interchangeable seat covers. “Of all the objects I have designed, Camaleonda is perhaps the best in terms of its sense of freedom,” Bellini said.
Browse an expansive collection of vintage Mario Bellini furniture — including dining tables, armchairs, mid-century sofas and more — today on 1stDibs.
B&B Italia
In 1966, Piero Ambrogio Busnelli cofounded C&B Italia, a modern Italian furniture manufacturer, with Cesare Cassina in northern Milan. From the outset, Busnelli and Cassina set about recruiting the most talented modernists in Italy to conceive of creative furnishings manufactured in modern ways. In the early 1970s, the company split, with Cassina founding his own eponymous firm and Busnelli taking leadership of what became B&B Italia.
For decades, Busnelli cultivated relationships with the world’s best design talent, resulting in furniture pieces that remain iconic today — be they Gaetano Pesce’s outwardly curvaceous Up seating (made for C&B, reintroduced by B&B) or tables from industrial designer Paolo Piva, each more sophisticated than the next in their geometrically complex steel-tube bases. B&B Italia earned four prestigious Compasso d’Oro design awards: in 1979 for Mario Bellini’s Le Bambole, in 1984 for the Sisamo wardrobe system by Studio Kairos, in 1987 for Antonio Citterio’s modular Sity sofa and, in 1989, the first award given to a manufacturing company itself.
Other notable names who designed for B&B Italia over the course of its 54-year history include Patricia Urquiola, Naoto Fukasawa, Zaha Hadid, Ettore Sottsass and Vincent Van Duysen, to name a very few. And while these names bring star power to the B&B brand, in many cases, it was B&B Italia who helped usher in their celebrity, fostering a wave of design talent on the world stage.
The company’s forward-thinking vision manifested in its own headquarters, too: In 1972, B&B Italia tapped architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers to design a steel-framed, postmodern-style home for the brand, whose crisscrossing metal exoskeleton is reminiscent of the pair’s Centre Pompidou in Paris, which was built at roughly the same time. Now, B&B Italia manages a contract division and outdoor section as well as its residential arm, and it also controls production for Maxalto, a brand spun out with furniture designs by Antonio Citterio.
At 1stDibs, find a range of vintage B&B Italia furniture — including sofas, cocktail tables and more.
- Dutch Handmade Terracotta Tile Table for Intercodam, 1970sLocated in Hilversum, NLGreat seventies Dutch handmade Terracotta tile table in the Brutalist style, The Netherlands, 1970s. With real plant figures on a handmade oak base.Category
Vintage 1970s Dutch Brutalist Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsTerracotta, Oak
- Set of Three Brass an Glass Nesting Tables Maison JansenBy Maison JansenLocated in Hilversum, NLThe mirrored glass tabletop makes these tables chique and elegant. Typical for the Mid-Century Modern Hollywood Regency style. Both the brass frames and the mirrored glass top show a...Category
Vintage 1960s French Hollywood Regency Side Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Round Danish Coffee Table, 1960sLocated in Hilversum, NLCirca 1960s round Danish coffee table with a compound beveled edge along the outer circumference. Beautiful graining to the book matched ven...Category
Vintage 1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- De Sede Leather Coffee Table, Switzerland, 1970sBy De SedeLocated in Hilversum, NLDe Sede coffee table, Switzerland, 1970s, completely covered in dark brown leather and smoked glass top. A nice addition to your living room set!Category
Vintage 1970s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsLeather, Smoked Glass
- Mid-Century Italian Travertine Side/Center Table, 1970sLocated in Hilversum, NLBeautiful coffee table completely executed in travertine. The base consists of a round pedestal. With the bright natural material travertine, the characteristics of the limestone cre...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Center Tables
MaterialsTravertine
- Midcentury Martin Visser Wengé Vintage Coffee Table, 1960sBy Martin VisserLocated in Hilversum, NLA nice midcentury coffee table, with an elegant look and finished Wengé wood. Typical Japanese style. This piece is much more stunning in person and can be viewed in our showroom in ...Category
Vintage 1960s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsGlass, Wenge
- Set of Four Mario Bellini Nesting Tables, “Quattro Gatti", Italy, 1967By Mario Bellini, C&B ItaliaLocated in Dronten, NLThis set of four white fiberglass "Quattro Gatti" tables was designed by Mario Bellini in the 1960s for C & B Italia and manufactured in Italy. C & B Italia is the predecessor of B &...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsFiberglass
- Set of 4 B&B Italia Nesting/Stackable Tables, “Quattro Gatti", 1960sBy B&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in Wolfurt, ATThis set of four white plastic "Quattro Gatti" sofas was designed by Mario Bellini in the 1960s for B & B Italia/C & B Italia and manufactured in Italy. ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsFiberglass
- Mario Bellini Set 4 Nestin /Stackable Tables “Quattro Gatti”, 1960, ItalyBy Mario BelliniLocated in Milano, ITMario Bellini set 4 nestin /stackable tables “Quattro Gatti”, 1960, Italy.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Other Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsPlexiglass
- One Coffee Table "Amanta" Fiberglass Black by Mario Bellini for C&B, Italy, 1960sBy C&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in Roma, ITThis side table or coffee table is made of fiberglass (Fiberlite) in Black. It is square with an indented tabletop. It was designed by Mario Bellini for C&B Italia in the 1960s. Thi...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsFiberglass
$879 Sale Price20% Off - Italian Black plastic coffee tables 4 Gatti by Mario Bellini for B&B, 1970sBy B&B Italia, Mario BelliniLocated in MIlano, ITBlack plastic coffee tables 4 Gatti by Mario Bellini for B&B, 1970s Square 4 Gatti coffee tables in black plastic, stackable through holes on the perimeter of ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsPlastic
$1,266 Sale Price20% Off - Mario Bellini "Gli Scacchi" Chess Side Tables 'for Cameleonda' for B&B ItaliaBy Mario Bellini, B&B ItaliaLocated in Grand Cayman, KYDiscover the timeless charm of the Mario Bellini-designed "Gli Scacchi" Side Tables/Stools, a perfect complement to the iconic Camaleonda sofa. Crafted in 1971 for B&B Italia, these ...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsPlastic
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Who Is Mario Bellini, and Why Is His 1970s Camaleonda Sofa Everywhere Right Now?
Get the lowdown on the ultrachic modular sofas that are currently taking up real estate in your Instagram saved folder.
Rooms We Love: 11 Splendid Living Rooms
Common wisdom used to declare the kitchen the hub of the house. These days, the living room seems to have assumed the role of domestic focal point. Unlike the Victorian parlor, stiffly furnished and reserved for guests, today’s living room is a central place for reading, conversation and, well, living, with furnishings that lend themselves to both casual lounging and elegant entertaining.