Pair of 1930s Nautical Folding Benches

Pair of French painted Louis XV style benches standing on four cabriole legs with rams head feet. The benches are newly upholstered in a washed Belgium linen with nailhead trim detail.

This 1930s Italian bench is so over-scaled, and monumental in appearance, that it seems to have been made for the large room it was destined, rather than the comfort of a typical sitter. As such, it would function equally well as a low side table or a high cocktail table. We’ll allow the buyer to determine its use. The designer was Pierluigi Colli, and the fabricator Martinotti, the Turin furniture and interior decorating firm that was established in 1831, and exhibited at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition and the 1904 St Louis World’s Fair. Colli’s family owned a textile company that supplied Martinotti with upholstery fabrics, suggesting nepotism had something to do with his being hired as the firm's director in 1926. Nevertheless, he proved himself worthy as a designer and a businessman. Having studied in Paris at the Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, he befriended leading French designers, and arranged for Martinotti to retail Lalique glass and Jean Perzel lighting. In addition, the quality of their work, and Colli’s dedication to the modern design movement, prompted Carlo Mollino, Gio Ponti, and Gino Levi-Montalcini, among others, to have Martinotti fabricate some of their furniture. Colli’s claim to fame, however, is his own work as a designer, and his ability to master the vocabularies of every trend from Art Deco to midcentury modern. During the Great Depression, when nearly every nation floundered economically, fascist Italy...

Bench Oak Unusual shaped back Tapering legs France 1930s.

- the wood has been treated by oil - wood with signs of age.

Bench from Bauhaus factory. Original condition with beautiful patina. Sturdy and stabile. Shipping to Continental US circa $680.

Bench from Bauhaus factory. Original condition with beautiful patina. Sturdy and stabile. Shipping to Continental US circa $1000.