spertia
Distinguished Member
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- Oct 11, 2006
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I have been a rather hardcore collector of 1960s and '70s modern design (mostly Italian, but with a bit of American and other European thrown in the mix) for more than a decade and also was a dealer (on the side) for some time. Over the years, a lot of pieces have come and gone, but my wife and I have reached a point where certain items will probably be with us for life:
1. Camaleonda modular sofa (huge!), Mario Bellini for C&B Italia (now B&B Italia), 1971. We bought this (via a dealer) from the original owners in D.C. They even had the original sales receipt, catalog, fabric swatch, certificate of authenticity, etc. We thought that it was an expensive purchase for us, but we translated the original cost (in 1978) to today's dollars, and the set, when new, would have been well over $30,000! Here is a partial view of the set (it has since been rearranged into one giant C-shaped unit):
2. Uski dining set, Giuseppe Raimondi for Gufram, 1966 (very, very rare -- I've only ever seen one other set for sale). It is blue fiberglass, with a white laminate tabletop and polished white vinyl chair upholstery. This set has already moved with us many times. It was purchased from a dealer in Atlanta, who had shipped it to his apartment in NY. When we bought it, the set was then sent from NYC to our place in San Francisco. It has since endured three other long-distance moves as well as a local one. The set in its current home:
Here is an image of the same set, in a different color combination (and in a snowy outdoor setting!), from a period distributor's catalog:
3. Marcuso dining table, Marco Zanuso for Zanotta, 1970 (this is in the formal dining room; the above set is in the breakfast room). This piece has been in continuous production since it was introduced; vintage examples turn up so rarely that it was one of the only 60s/70s designs that we decided to purchase "new." It arrived from Italy in a massive wooden create, with the chrome legs removed from the glass top. (We also have a Marcuso coffee table, vintage, but I'm not sure if it will be with us forever.) Here is a period catalog scan, from when ICF was the US importer of Zanotta goods (our dining table is larger and rectangular, though):
4. MR 10 dining chairs, Mies van der Rohe, 1927. Yes, these are wildly out of sync with the period in which the rest of our furnishings were designed, but I think they actually fit in quite nicely with the theme we're going for. These are our third, and dare I say final, set of dining chairs purchased to go with the above Marcuso dining table. We started with the classic S-shaped plastic chairs by Verner Panton (too clunky), then switched to wire Bertoia chairs (too uncomfortable), and finally purchased the Mies chairs (vintage Knoll examples from the '70s, in out-of-production, dark-brown leather) at auction last year. We're thrilled with them, from both an aesthetic and a comfort perspective. No photos of our set, but the chairs look like this:
5. Toga chairs, Sergio Mazza for Artemide, 1968. When I became interesting in 1960s design, I started out collecting pieces with an eye toward creating a much more synthetic, pop-influenced environment. I don't have nearly as much plastic/fiberglass furniture as I once did, but the Toga chairs (two white, one black) are definitely keepers for me. Here are the white ones on our front porch:
And a period catalog shot of the Toga chair:
6. Toio lamp, Achille and Piergiacomo Castiglioni for Flos, 1962. This is my latest acquisition -- something I have always wanted, and something I will never part with now that I have one! Here is a stock photo (mine also has the red base):
This has turned into a long post.... Obviously I'm pretty enthusiastic about this topic.
1. Camaleonda modular sofa (huge!), Mario Bellini for C&B Italia (now B&B Italia), 1971. We bought this (via a dealer) from the original owners in D.C. They even had the original sales receipt, catalog, fabric swatch, certificate of authenticity, etc. We thought that it was an expensive purchase for us, but we translated the original cost (in 1978) to today's dollars, and the set, when new, would have been well over $30,000! Here is a partial view of the set (it has since been rearranged into one giant C-shaped unit):
2. Uski dining set, Giuseppe Raimondi for Gufram, 1966 (very, very rare -- I've only ever seen one other set for sale). It is blue fiberglass, with a white laminate tabletop and polished white vinyl chair upholstery. This set has already moved with us many times. It was purchased from a dealer in Atlanta, who had shipped it to his apartment in NY. When we bought it, the set was then sent from NYC to our place in San Francisco. It has since endured three other long-distance moves as well as a local one. The set in its current home:
Here is an image of the same set, in a different color combination (and in a snowy outdoor setting!), from a period distributor's catalog:
3. Marcuso dining table, Marco Zanuso for Zanotta, 1970 (this is in the formal dining room; the above set is in the breakfast room). This piece has been in continuous production since it was introduced; vintage examples turn up so rarely that it was one of the only 60s/70s designs that we decided to purchase "new." It arrived from Italy in a massive wooden create, with the chrome legs removed from the glass top. (We also have a Marcuso coffee table, vintage, but I'm not sure if it will be with us forever.) Here is a period catalog scan, from when ICF was the US importer of Zanotta goods (our dining table is larger and rectangular, though):
4. MR 10 dining chairs, Mies van der Rohe, 1927. Yes, these are wildly out of sync with the period in which the rest of our furnishings were designed, but I think they actually fit in quite nicely with the theme we're going for. These are our third, and dare I say final, set of dining chairs purchased to go with the above Marcuso dining table. We started with the classic S-shaped plastic chairs by Verner Panton (too clunky), then switched to wire Bertoia chairs (too uncomfortable), and finally purchased the Mies chairs (vintage Knoll examples from the '70s, in out-of-production, dark-brown leather) at auction last year. We're thrilled with them, from both an aesthetic and a comfort perspective. No photos of our set, but the chairs look like this:
5. Toga chairs, Sergio Mazza for Artemide, 1968. When I became interesting in 1960s design, I started out collecting pieces with an eye toward creating a much more synthetic, pop-influenced environment. I don't have nearly as much plastic/fiberglass furniture as I once did, but the Toga chairs (two white, one black) are definitely keepers for me. Here are the white ones on our front porch:
And a period catalog shot of the Toga chair:
6. Toio lamp, Achille and Piergiacomo Castiglioni for Flos, 1962. This is my latest acquisition -- something I have always wanted, and something I will never part with now that I have one! Here is a stock photo (mine also has the red base):
This has turned into a long post.... Obviously I'm pretty enthusiastic about this topic.
