Ico Parisi for M. Singer & Sons, Sculptural Walnut Side Table with Drawer, 1950s

Domenico “Ico” Parisi was one half of a prolific postwar design duo he comprised with his wife, Luisa. Their furniture designs are known for running the stylistic gamut, with celebrated mid-century modern pieces ranging from elegantly skeletal — like dramatic ebonized dining chairs — to plush and shapely, like the iconic 1951 Egg chair, in a plethora of materials.

The son of an art teacher father, Ico Parisi was exposed to art at an early age. Born in 1916 in the Sicilian capital of Palermo, he and his family moved to Como in 1925. There, the young Parisi would begin to develop his interest in architecture and design. After earning a degree as a building inspector in 1936 and working as a civil engineer, Parisi took on an apprenticeship in the studio of Giuseppe Terragni, the modernist, fascist Italian architect, pioneer of the Rationalist movement and creator of the iconic Casa del Fascio.

While working for Terragni, Parisi crossed paths with such contemporary design talents as Lucio Fontana, Bruno Munari and Pietro Lingeri, though he briefly moved away from design and architecture to explore photography and film. His artistic work would soon be interrupted, however, by the outbreak of World War II, during which he served at the front before returning to Como in 1943. There, he resumed work as a designer and architect, founding two architecture groups: the Alta Quota and the Gruppo Como.

Through his creative circles, Parisi met Luisa Aiani, a former student of the prolific architect and furniture designer Gio Ponti, who was affiliated with the Alta Quota. They married in 1947 and founded the studio La Ruota — a cross between a design firm and an intellectual salon — in Como shortly thereafter. In 1950, Parisi finally completed his architectural schooling, studying under the nationalist architect Alberto Sartoris at the Athenaeum Architecture School in Lausanne, Switzerland. He and Aiani began several decades of sophisticated output, designing curved sofas upholstered in yellow velvet and armchairs with slender mahogany frames for enduring Italian manufacturers such as Cassina and others.

Much like Charles and Ray Eames in America, the Parisis worked as a team and relied on experimentation in style and material for many of their designs. Ico Parisi died in Como in 1996.

Find a collection of vintage Ico Parisi coffee tables, dining chairs and more on 1stDibs.

New York furniture manufacturer M. Singer & Sons is well known to collectors of dazzling mid-century modern design — the company played an integral role in introducing Italian furniture masters to the American marketplace and introduced striking dining room tables, lounge chairs and dressers that were created in rich woods and met the day’s growing demand for sleek and simple furnishings.

While M. Singer & Sons had been offering upholstered furniture out of its storefront in downtown Manhattan in as early as 1923, it is today widely recognized for the alluring tables, seating and other designs of the postwar era. 

M. Singer & Sons rose to prominence in the 1950s. A boom in prosperity followed World War II, and new homeowners all over the United States were seeking modern furniture to move into their living rooms and dining rooms. This yielded a heyday of innovation, and the likes of Herman Miller, Knoll and other furniture manufacturers of the era endeavored to position themselves as leaders in the space. M. Singer & Sons was no different, and the company’s success over the subsequent decade can be credited to Joe Singer, who was then steering the ship. 

Singer saw how important it was to offer furnishings in a style that broke from the bulky and overly ornamental pieces that characterized interiors in the previous century — M. Singer & Sons would need to manufacture streamlined storage cabinets, low-profile coffee tables and practical but comfortable seating that didn’t occupy lots of real estate.

It was thanks to his quest for modernist furniture that Singer discovered legendary polymath Gio Ponti, arguably the most influential figure in 20th-century Italian modernism. 

Singer reached out to Ponti and offered a partnership for M. Singer & Sons to bring the Milanese designer’s work to America. He created elegant armchairs, sideboards set on tapered legs and more for the company. At the same time, Singer struck up a collaboration with Bertha Schaefer, an acclaimed Mississippi-born interior decorator and the owner of an important Manhattan art gallery at the time Schaefer, an enthusiast of Bauhaus design, would go on to create sculptural walnut desks, angular seating framed in mahogany and other pieces for the brand. With conceptual input from Ponti, she developed a furniture line called Modern by Singer.

The new collection — which merged the alluring forms and materials associated with Italian modernism and quality American manufacturing — was an instant success for M. Singer & Sons. Smooth lines, exceptional hardwoods and luxurious finishes lent the line a high-end feel and spurred demand.

A Schaefer-designed nesting table from the Modern by Singer line was included in 1952’s “Good Design” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, which featured work from the likes of George Nelson, Paul McCobb, Jens Risom and others. 

M. Singer & Sons introduced Ponti to an American audience, and he, in turn, introduced the company chairman to Italian designers like Ico Parisi and Carlo Mollino. These relationships also developed into successful collaborations that helped cement M. Singer & Sons' presence and prominence in modern American furniture. 

Today, M. Singer & Sons’ designs by Schaefer and its stable of Italian designers are coveted and collected all over the world.

Find vintage M. Singer & Sons furniture on 1stDibs.