Pair of Pietro Chiesa Midcentury Italian Brass Table Lamps by Fontana Arte 1940s
View Similar Items
Pair of Pietro Chiesa Midcentury Italian Brass Table Lamps by Fontana Arte 1940s
About the Item
- Creator:Fontana Arte (Manufacturer),Pietro Chiesa (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 7.49 in (19 cm)Diameter: 4.73 in (12 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Power Source:Hardwired
- Voltage:220-240v
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1940
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Note, (as in the photo) a small chip inside the glass, not to worry.
- Seller Location:Puglia, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4426119802832
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.
- Pietro Chiesa Mid-century Italian Glass and Brass Chandelier by Fontana ArteBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Puglia, PugliaThis midcentury glass and brass chandelier was designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte in the 1940s. The Italian Art Deco d...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
$2,352 Sale Price20% Off - Pietro Chiesa Mid-Century Italian Glass and Brass Chandelier by Fontana Arte 40sBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Puglia, PugliaThis Mid-Century glass and brass chandelier was designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte in the 1940s. The Italian Art Deco designer Pietro Chiesa was born in Milan in 1892 in a family of artists originally from Ticino, Switzerland. After his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts of Brera, he completed an apprenticeship at the studio of the furniture designer Giovan Battista Giannotti; having gathered enough security and experience, Chiesa opened his studio in 1921 under the name Bottega di Pietro Chiesa. Known above all for his work as a glassmaker, Chiesa presented his work for the first time in 1925 at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. In 1932 his studio joined Fontana Arte, the legendary Italian manufacture of lighting and glass objects founded by Gio Ponti and Luigi Fontana. Chiesa becomes the company's artistic director, and over the years designs numerous models for Fontana Arte, including lamps, windows, tables, and artistic decorative objects. Among the most noteworthy pieces signed by the designer, we mention the Fontana table (1932), made in a single beam of molded clear glass, the Cartoccio vase (1932), and the Luminator lacquered brass floor lamp...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
$2,352 Sale Price20% Off - After Pietro Chiesa Mid-Century Italian Crystal Chandelier by Fontana Arte 1950sBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Puglia, PugliaThis Mid-Century chandelier in curved crystal and brass was designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte in the 1940s. Produced by Fontana Arte after Pietro Chiesa Italian Art Deco designer Pietro Chiesa was born in Milan in 1892 into a family of artists from Ticino, Switzerland. After his studies at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, he completed an apprenticeship at the studio of furniture designer Giovan Battista Giannotti; after gathering enough confidence and experience, Chiesa opened his studio in 1921 under the name of Bottega di Pietro Chiesa. Known above all for his work as a glassmaker, Chiesa presented his work for the first time in 1925 at the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris. In 1932 his studio became part of Fontana Arte, the legendary Italian manufacturer of lighting and glass objects founded by Gio Ponti and Luigi Fontana. Chiesa becomes the artistic director of the company and over the years has designed numerous models for Fontana Arte, including lamps, windows, tables and artistic furnishing objects. Among the most noteworthy pieces signed by the designer, we mention the Fontana table (1932), made of a single transparent molded glass beam, the Cartoccio vase (1932), and the Luminator lacquered brass floor lamp...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsCrystal
$2,788 Sale Price20% Off - After Pietro Chiesa Midcentury Italian Brass 12 Lights Candelier Fontana ArteBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Puglia, PugliaRefined chandelier attributed to Pietro Chiesa for Fontarte with 12 lights with brass support and accessory and a wonderful frosted glass with decoration. Italy in the 1940s.Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
$6,536 Sale Price20% Off - Pietro Chiesa Midcentury Chiseled Crystal Desk Set for Fontana Arte, 1930sBy Pietro Chiesa, Max IngrandLocated in Puglia, PugliaThis hand chiselled crystal desk set was designed by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte, Italy, 1930s Fontana Arte S.p.A. is an Italian company founded in Milan (as Fontana Arte) in 1...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desk Sets
MaterialsCrystal
$740 Sale Price / set20% Off - After Fontana Arte Pair of Modern Italian Glass and Brass Sconces, 1980sBy Fontana ArteLocated in Puglia, PugliaPair of wall lamps attributed to Fontana Arte, the structure is in briar effect metal, thick glass and brass. They were produced in Italy in the 1980s.Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal, Brass
$1,568 Sale Price / set20% Off
- Midcentury Pietro Chiesa Brass and Glass Italian Chandelier, Fontana Arte, 1940sBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Roma, ITBeautiful midcentury brass and chiselled glass chandelier. This fantastic piece was designed by Pietro Chiesa in Italy during the 1940s for F...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Fontana Arte, Italian Midcentury, Glass Chandelier after Pietro Chiesa, 1940sBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Milan, ITEtched glass three-leaf chandelier after Pietro Chiesa, 1940s. The fixture features delicate pieces of milky hand blown glass elements tethered to a gilt brass structure, each of wh...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Rare Table Lamp by Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte, Italy, 1940sBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Argelato, BORare and monumental table lamp created by the famous designer Pietro Chiesa for Fontana Arte, Italy, 1940s. It is one of the most iconic lamps of 1940s Italian design, elegant and p...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsCrystal, Aluminum, Brass
- Pietro Chiesa Fontana Arte Style Brass Table Lamp, Italy, 1940sBy Pietro ChiesaLocated in Naples, ITTable lamp from the late 1940s by designer Pietro Chiesa, artistic director of Fontana Arte until 1948. In the table lamp, the particular wear of the brass and grinding of the glass,...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsBrass
- Pietro Chiesa Pair of Fontana Arte Glass & Brass Lamps, Italy, 1940'sBy Pietro Chiesa, Fontana ArteLocated in Brooklyn, NYThese are special because they are of clear Fontana Arte Glass and are a pair. New custom Vellum shades.Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
MaterialsAlabaster, Brass
- Fontana Arte Chandelier by Pietro Chiesa, Italy, 1940sBy Pietro ChiesaLocated in Rome, ITAmazing pendant with finely hand chiseled glass with hibiscus motifs. Elegant brass frame in excellent vintage condition. The disc centered by six E 14 light bulbs, up to 40 watts p...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsGlass