Piero Fornasetti STRUMENTI MUSICALI Coffee Table
View Similar Items
Piero Fornasetti STRUMENTI MUSICALI Coffee Table
About the Item
- Creator:Fornasetti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 16.75 in (42.55 cm)Diameter: 45 in (114.3 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1965
- Condition:very good, light alligatoring throughout, minor flecks, small dings to base, wear consistent with age and light use.
- Seller Location:West Palm Beach, FL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: 1103289025142
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.
- Piero Fornasetti “Strumenti Musicali” Coffee TableBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Lake Worth Beach, FLArtist/Designer: Piero Fornasetti (Italian, 1913-1988); Fornasetti Additional Information: We would like to thank Barnaba Fornasetti, who assisted in confirming the table’s design a...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- 'Strumenti Musicali' Drinks / Side Tables by Piero Fornasetti, c 1970s, SignedBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Los Angeles, CAThese gorgeous collectors items are the 'Strumenti Musicali' (Musical Instruments in Italian) side tables by Piero Fornasetti, signed underneath with original labels. Priced individu...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Piero Fornasetti, Roman Medallions, Coffee Table, 1960s, ItalyBy FornasettiLocated in Stockholm, SECoffee table by Italian designer Piero Fornasetti, Italy, 1960s. Top with details of Romanesque imagery/ Roman medallions. Lithographic print on lacque...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
- 1950s Piero Fornasetti Attributed Coffee Table , Printed Sails on TopBy FornasettiLocated in Vigonza, PaduaMid-Century Modern veri elegant Piero Fornasetti attributed designer coffee table in lacquered wood with printed sails on top. Legs in steel covered with black resin and gilt brass f...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsSteel, Brass
- Vintage Italian Piero Fornasetti "Cammei" Coffee TableBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Brooklyn, NYPiero Fornasetti "Cammei" coffee table composed of a lithographic transfer with cameo motif on lacquered wood supported by a black enameled-steel base with brass, adjustable feet (ca...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass, Enamel, Steel
- Piero Fornasetti Coffee Table-Neoclassical Bordo Bassorilievo PatternBy Piero FornasettiLocated in Downingtown, PAPiero Fornasetti Bordo Bassorilievo pattern coffee table, circa 1955. The table is decorated with painting and lithographic transfer-pri...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood