On Wednesday March 6, PIASA is organizing a sale devoted to 20th-century Italian design.
Comprising 230 lots, the sale offers a fine overview of Italian furniture production from the 1930s to the 1960s, with a particular focus on the legacy of designer Gio Ponti, who will feature prominently in the sale. The catalog covers all types of furnishings, with a wide selection of seats, tables, lighting, storage and decorative objects signed by the great names of the period: Piero Fornasetti, Gino Sarfatti, Studio B.B.P.R, Franco Albini...
Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988)
Libri Secretary cabinet Lacquered wood
Estimate: €30,000 / €40,000
The selection in this sale brings together all the great designers from the peninsula who, from the first half of the 20th century onwards, established Italian design as a major creative scene, one that continues to influence the world of decoration. The undisputed master of this movement, Gio Ponti, features prominently in the sale, with no fewer than fifty lots testifying to the great diversity of his work and the styles he approached throughout his career. Other equally remarkable ensembles include a series of lighting fixtures by Gino Sarfati, including a pair of Model 2109/12 suspension luminaires (lots 17 & 18), and several pieces by Studio B.B.P.R (Gian Luigi Banfi, Ludovico Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressuti & Ernesto Nathan Rogers). These include the iconic ceiling lights, available in a choice of black (lots 44 & 45) or brown (lots 48 & 49), as well as a bespoke bedroom from the Gairinger collection (Trieste), presented here in its entirety (lots 180 to 185).
Among the highly unusual pieces on display are a rare lacquered wood secretary completely covered in lithographs and signed Piero Fornasetti (lot 10), an armchair by Luciano Grassi, Sergio Conti and Marisa Forlani made of nylon threads stretched between the steel frame (lot 11), and a pictorial work on glass by Lucio Fontana from the former Fulgenzio Borsani collection in Milan (lot 96). Presented in a catalog illustration like a painting, this piece was originally conceived as a tabletop decoration during a collaboration with Arredamenti Borsani di Milano.
Gino Sarfatti (1912-1985) Model 2109/12
Suspension created circa 1960-1962
Estimate: €15,000 / €20,000
