STUNNING 20thC TRINKET BOX BY PIERO FORNASETTI, ITALY c.1960/70's
A delightful glove box or trinket box by Piero Fornasetti, circa 1960s / 1970s, with sliding cedar interior, bearing the label 'Trofeo, Selvaggina' to the side of the box. The exterior is lacquered with depictions of traditional game and hunting trophies. These increasingly rare and collectible items epitomise the creativity of the late great Piero Fornasetti and make lovely additions to any modern, mid century or period interior.
Reference Number: B9542
DESCRIPTION
A delightful glove box or trinket box by Piero Fornasetti, circa 1960s / 1970s, with sliding cedar interior, bearing the label 'Trofeo, Selvaggina' to the side of the box. The exterior is lacquered with depictions of traditional game and hunting trophies. These increasingly rare and collectible items epitomise the creativity of the late great Piero Fornasetti and make lovely additions to any modern, mid century or period interior.
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 dishes, 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 reigns of the company after his father's death.
CONDITION
In good overall vintage condition, minor wear throughout consistent with light use. Please refer to photographs
SIZE
Height: 3.5cm
Width: 14cm
Depth: 9cm
