"Chiavi" Fornasetti Side Table, Italy, 1950s
View Similar Items
"Chiavi" Fornasetti Side Table, Italy, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 22 in (55.88 cm)Diameter: 14.25 in (36.2 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU813812182633
Fornasetti
The Italian artist, illustrator and furniture maker Piero Fornasetti was one of the wittiest and most imaginative design talents of the 20th century. He crafted an inimitable decorative style from a personal vocabulary of images that included birds, butterflies, hot-air balloons, architecture and — most frequently, and in some 500 variations — an enigmatic woman’s face based on that of the 19th-century opera singer Lina Cavalieri. Fornasetti used transfer prints of these images, rendered in the style of engravings, to decorate an endless variety of furnishings and housewares that ranged from chairs, tables and desks to dinner plates, lamps and umbrella stands. His work is archly clever, often surreal and always fun.
Fornasetti was born in Milan, the son of an accountant, and he lived his entire life in the city. He showed artistic talent as a child and enrolled at Milan’s Brera Academy of Fine Art in 1930, but was expelled after two years for consistently failing to follow his professors’ orders. A group of his hand-painted silk scarves, displayed in the 1933 Triennale di Milano, caught the eye of the architect and designer Gio Ponti, who, in the 1940s, became Fornasetti’s collaborator and patron. Beginning in the early 1950s, they created a striking a series of desks, bureaus and secretaries that pair Ponti’s signature angular forms with Fornasetti’s decorative motifs — lighthearted arrangements of flowers and birds on some pieces, austere architectural imagery on others. The two worked together on numerous commissions for interiors, though their greatest project has been lost: the first-class lounges and restaurants of the luxury ocean liner Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956.
Fornasetti furnishings occupy an unusual and compelling niche in the decorative arts: they are odd yet pack a serious punch. They act, essentially, as functional sculpture. A large Fornasetti piece such as a cabinet or a desk can change the character of an entire room; his smaller works have the aesthetic power of a vase of flowers, providing a bright and alluring decorative note. The chimerical, fish-nor-fowl nature of Fornasetti’s work may be its greatest strength. It stands on its own. Bringing the Fornasetti look into the future is Barnaba Fornasetti, who took the reins of the company after his father's death.
- Pietra Side Table by Gaspare AsaroBy form A, Gaspare & Vittorio AsaroLocated in New York, NYThe Pietra side table is constructed on a lapis lazuli base created from several pieces of the precious stone and forged brass filling the gaps between them. The organic brass top is...Category
2010s Italian Modern Side Tables
MaterialsLapis Lazuli, Brass
$7,900 / item - Malachite Coffee Table or Side TablesLocated in New York, NYVersatile set of limited edition tables that can be used together to form a coffee table or individually as side tables. Each has a malachite top and a brass base consisting of several tapering legs angled in different directions. The taller center table...Category
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMalachite, Brass
$4,140 Sale Price / item40% Off - Fiore Brass Side Table by Gaspare AsaroBy form A, Gaspare & Vittorio AsaroLocated in New York, NYThe Fiore table features three brass legs coming together at a central weld and then sprouting to hold a thick glass top. Shown in polished brass. Customization Options: Each pie...Category
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBrass
$3,400 / item - "Geometria: Cerchi #4, " Coffee Table by Gaspare AsaroBy Gaspare & Vittorio AsaroLocated in New York, NYThe Geometria: Cerchi #4 table elevates the minimalist form of the cylinder by joining and overlapping them to create a highly sculptural piece. Shown in polished steel with four cyl...Category
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel
$14,900 / item - Geometria: Cerchi #4 Coffee Table by Gaspare Asaro-Polished Steel VersionBy form A, Gaspare & Vittorio AsaroLocated in New York, NYThe Geometria: Cerchi #4 table elevates the minimalist form of the cylinder by joining and overlapping them to create a highly sculptural piece. Shown in polished steel with four cyl...Category
2010s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsStainless Steel
- Gio Ponti Armchair for Cassina, Italy, 1950sBy Cassina, Gio PontiLocated in New York, NYGio Ponti armchair manufactured by Cassina in the 1950s. In original condition with ebonized frame, green leather covering and brass feet. Condition: Good vintage condition, minor...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsWood
- White French Midcentury Side Table, 1950sBy Mathieu MatégotLocated in NUEMBRECHT, NRWThis 'Snow White' side table was designed and manufactured in France in the 1950s. It is made of white lacquered perforated metal and brass details in the manner of Mathieu Matégot.Category
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBrass, Metal
- Stepped Side Table, France, circa 1950sLocated in Isle Sur La Sorgue, VaucluseMidcentury black-painted wood and iron side table with three stepped tiers. Nice design.Category
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsIron
- Pair of Vintage Italian Marble Pedestal Side Tables, Circa 1950sLocated in Germantown, MDBeautiful Pair of vintage Italian marble pedestal side table in lovely condition. Made of solid, polished Italian Botticino Fiorito marble, this are a rare standout pieces. Probably made in the mid-to-late 20th Century, this is a really lovely 'Hollywood Regency' style tables with painted plaster base and gilt ornate ring.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsMarble
$1,296 Sale Price / set35% Off - Elegant 2-Tier Side Table Wit Italian Travertine by M. Singer & Sons, 1950sBy Bertha Schaefer, M. Singer & SonsLocated in Bridgeport, CTFabulous two-tier boat tail shaped side or end tables designed by M. Singer and Sons produced in the 1950s. Very sculptural walnut frames with "floating" Italian travertine tops. Jus...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsTravertine
- Pair Italian Midcentury Lacquer & Screenprint Side Tables by Piero FornasettiBy Piero FornasettiLocated in New York, NYA Rare and Important Pair of Italian midcentury Side or End Tables by Piero Fornasetti. The pieces are beautiful compositions of form and design in the Modern Neoclassical aesthetic....Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBrass, Iron
- Ebonized Wood and Glass Side Table Attributed to Ico Parisi, Italy, 1950sBy Ico ParisiLocated in Rome, ITSide end table composed of two shelves, the upper one in glass and the lower in wood, and a structured in ebonized wood. Attributed to Ico Parisi, Italy, circa 1950.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsWood, Glass