Gianfranco Frattini for Cantieri Carugati Desk in Cherry

About the Item

Gianfranco Frattini for Cantieri Carugati, writing desk, cherry, metal, Italy, 1958 This piece of furniture is based on a solid construction featuring straight lines and right-angled shapes. Functionality comes into play through the availability of storage space and a well-sized table top to work on. The drawers are equipped with minimalistic metal handles and are constructed through box joints. Frattini placed the cabinet on a well-proportioned base that lifts up the piece in an architectural manner and shows wonderful lines and constructive highlights. Overall, an elegant monumental work that elevates your study room. Cantiere Carugati established their furniture business in 1925 and worked with prominent architects and designers in designing hotels, office spaces, shops, and ships. In the post-war era, they created a series of furniture in the Italian region Rovellasca (Como), which was a great success. Gianfranco Frattini (1926-2004) was born in Padua and studiesd architecture at the Milan Politechnico. After his studies, Frattini started working for Gio Ponti until 1956. Afterwards, he opene his own practice in Milan and began creating his own desgins. His work is mostly part of the generation that created the Italian design movement of the late 1950s through the 1960s. The designer eventually died in Milan in 2004. Please note that this item is in good, used condition.

Creator:

Gianfranco Frattini (Designer),Cantieri Carugati (Manufacturer)

Dimensions:

Height: 31.89 in (81 cm)Width: 43.31 in (110 cm)Depth: 25.99 in (66 cm)

Style:

Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques:

Cherry,Metal

Place of Origin:

Italy

Period:

1950-1959

Date of Manufacture:

1958

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. Every item Morentz offers is checked by our team of 30 craftsmen in our in-house workshop. Special restoration or reupholstery requests can be done. Check ‘About the item’ or ask our design specialists for detailed information on the condition.

Seller Location:

Waalwijk, NL

Reference Number:

Seller: 501114991stDibs: LU933136597622

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Shop All Gianfranco Frattini

Gianfranco Frattini

Gianfranco Frattini is widely regarded as a mid-century master of Italian modern design. He was an award-winning architect and designer, and specialized in creating furniture and decor that is both decorative and practical — Frattini’s vintage desks, armchairs, nesting tables and other works are celebrated for their sophisticated merging of function and form.

Born in Padua in 1926, Frattini studied architecture at the Polytechnic University of Milan. He later apprenticed with his teacher and mentor, Gio Ponti. Through Ponti — arguably the most important figure in 20th-century Italian architecture and design — Frattini met many notable modernist designers such as Oscar Niemeyer and Le Corbusier, but an introduction to famed Italian entrepreneur Cesare Cassina would prove incredibly significant in helping launch his career.

During the mid-1950s, Frattini began to collaborate with Cassina’s eponymous company. He designed the brand’s acclaimed leather and walnut Model 849 lounge chair — a winner of the Compasso d’Oro award — the Marema nesting tables and the iconic Sesann collection. The latter, an enduring 1970s suite of impossibly welcoming leather-covered seating, is now produced by Tacchini. In addition to Cassina, Frattini created furniture and lighting for other manufacturers such as Bernini, Arteluce, Artemide, Knoll and more.

While many of his designs incorporate glass, tubular steel and other materials, Frattini loved working with wood. The sculptural Albero bookcase — an innovative floor-to-ceiling structure made in walnut that swings on a 360-degree vertical swivel axis — is a striking example of Frattini’s dedication to traditional woodworking techniques. In the early 1970s, he traveled to Japan with friend and collaborator Pierluigi Ghianda — a master Milanese cabinet maker — in order to study the work of artisans in Kyoto. The trip inspired his design of the Kyoto table, a work of solid beech with Canaletto walnut inserts that is part of the permanent collection of the Milan Triennale’s Design Museum. The Kyoto and Albero have been revived by Poltrona Frau.

Frattini’s designs are in the permanent collections of prestigious museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Find vintage Gianfranco Frattini furniture, lighting and decor on 1stDibs.