Fontana Arte, Glass Lamp Table, Italy, 1930s
View Similar Items
Fontana Arte, Glass Lamp Table, Italy, 1930s
About the Item
- Creator:Fontana Arte (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 25.01 in (63.5 cm)Diameter: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1930s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Pambio Noranco, CH
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU217336737023
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.
- Coffee Table, Fontana Arte, Dubè, 1955-1960s, Italy Murano Glass MidcenturyBy Duilio Dubé Bernabe, Fontana ArteLocated in Pambio Noranco, CHFontana Arte coffee table, very rare curved glass hand painted by Duilio Barnabé, artist name Dubè. Murano glass, made in Italy in circa 1958 Signed on the glass by the artist and ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMurano Glass
$13,782 Sale Price40% Off - Italian Retro Illuminated Fossil Table Lamp, Made in Italy 2000'sLocated in Pambio Noranco, CHTable lamp made by Agate, an Italian fossil stone. Retro illuminated, brass base, hand craft by an Italian artisan Made in Italy 2000 circaCategory
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Table Lamp, Gae Aulenti, Livio Castiglioni, Stilnovo, 1970s, ItalyBy Gae AulentiLocated in Pambio Noranco, CHTable lamp model "trepiu" by Gae Aulenti and Livio Castiglioni for Stilnovo in black plastic and silver and metal base.Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsMetal, Silver
- Coffee Table, Brass and Black Glass, made in Italy modern pieceLocated in Pambio Noranco, CHCoffee table with metal structure and black glass top. made in Italy by a craftman, modern piece 2017Category
2010s Italian Modern Center Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Pair of Mid-Century Murano Glass Ceiling Lamps by VeArt, Venice, Italy, 1960sBy VeArtLocated in Pambio Noranco, CHRare pair of Mid-Century, Murano glass hanging lamps by VeArt. White and clear glass, 1960-1965. Measures: H 47 x Ø27cm.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsArt Glass, Glass, Murano Glass
- "Rocca" Crystal and Brass Table Lamp, Handmade in Italy by an ArtisanBy Bernardino LuiniLocated in Pambio Noranco, CHThese lamps were handmade in 2015 by a craftsman from central Italy. Made of brass and "rocca" crystal, a quartz typical of central Italy. Made in 2015.Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsCrystal, Brass
$1,575 Sale Price / item20% Off
- Italian 1940s Side Table Attributed to Fontana ArteBy Fontana ArteLocated in Milan, ITItalian 1940s side table Attributed to Fontana Arte. Beautifully executed and covered in mirror. Brass and wood handles.Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Art Deco Side Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Post-Modern Memphis Style Side Table Fontana Arte, solid Glass, Italy 1980sBy Fontana ArteLocated in Saarbruecken, DEMid-Century Memphis Style Side Table Fontana Arte, solid Glass, Italy 1980s- very heavy, very solid. perfect condition.Category
Vintage 1980s Post-Modern Side Tables
MaterialsGlass
- Mirrored Console by Fontana Arte Italy ‘Milan, ’ 1930sBy Fontana ArteLocated in New York, NYMirrored glass panel, etched with a depiction of the mythical huntress Diana, fixed with a carved and painted demilune shelf inset with a green glass an...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Art Deco Console Tables
MaterialsLimestone
- Green Glass Table by Duiliu Barnabé / Fontana Arte, c.a. 1960By Duilio Barnabe, Duilio Dubé Bernabe, Fontana ArteLocated in Berlin, DERare and sophisticated low table by mid century painter Duilio "Dubé" Barnabé. It's heavy glass top has chiseled edges and behind glass painting. ...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass, Steel
- Side Table by Fontana Arte, 1940By Fontana ArteLocated in Berlin, DESide table with wooden corpus, linear structure lacquered black and green, glass plates Dimensions: H 41cm 50 x 50cm Design / Fontana Arte Milano, 1940.Category
Vintage 1940s German Modern Side Tables
MaterialsWood
- Tour Table with Glass Top Designed by Gae Aulenti for Fontana ArteBy Gae Aulenti, Fontana ArteLocated in Brooklyn, NYTour is the evolution of the table with wheels. Again with wheels, but in this case taken from bicycles, it was a surprising piece. The beveled float glass top, 0.6" thick, rests on ...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Side Tables
MaterialsGlass