90s Daniela Puppa metal and glass floorlamp for Fontana Arte

Designer
Daniela Puppa
Manufacturer
Fontana Arte
Period
1990's
Origin
Italy
Material
Aluminum, Glass
Color
Grey, Oker
Code
07310321VV
Condition
Good and working condition consistent with age and use
Dimensions
56cm (w) x 20cm (d) x 190cm (h)
Price
Sold, located Jackson Heigths
Provenance
See writing below.

Luigi Fontana founded his plate glass manufacturing company in Milan in 1881. As he achieved increasing success in the construction sector—which attracted new investors, including the multinational Saint-Gobain glass company—Luigi Fontana & Partners opened outlets both nationally and abroad, becoming one of the largest glass manufacturers in Italy.

Between 1930 and 1932, hoping to make inroads in the art glass and décor sector, Fontana hired famed Italian architect-designer Gio Ponti (then art director for the ceramics company Richard Ginori) to consult and create new designs for the domestic market,

By 1933, the collaboration gave rise to Fontana Arte, an artistic glass works division of Fontana’s company. The same year, Fontana Arte acquired Italian designer Pietro Chiesa glass workshop, Bottega di Pietro Chiesa, and Ponti and Chiesa shared the role of art director for the expanded company. Soon they were garnering wide acclaim for a variety of sophisticated glass objects, encompassing stained glass, lighting, decorative mirrors, sculptural pieces, and even furniture made of glass, most of which were characterized by a purity of form remarkable for the time. 

Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, Fontana Arte developed few new products, relying instead on iterations of Chiesa’s designs from the 1930s. This creative conservatism stemmed from the devastation of the war years and the economic turmoil that immediately followed. A few private commissions from hotels, offices, and museums helped sustain the company until the postwar recovery took hold in Italy.

In 1954, French-born designer Max Ingrand took the helm as artistic director and ushered in a new era of fashionableness and acclaim for Fontana Arte. From chandeliers, sconces, and lamps to furniture, mirrors, and decorative objects, the company’s prolific, sometimes bespoke, output during the postwar era earned it a reputation for glamour and au courant style. 

In 1967, two years before Ingrand’s untimely death, Ponti returned to Fontana Arte as art director. As the ‘60s drew to a close, and throughout most of the 1970s, Fontana Arte lost cachet. In 1972, Saint-Gobain took direct ownership, and production and material quality declined. In 1979, however, Fontana Arte changed hands again to another group of shareholders represented by CEO Carlo Guglielmi. A new, successful phase was established when Guglielmi brought in Italian architect Gae Aulenti as Fontana Arte’s new art director.

In 1998, Fontana Arte was awarded the ADI Compasso d’Oro in recognition for its significant contribution to the Italian design legacy. Cementing its position at the forefront of technical expertise and design flair, Fontana Art combined with the Nice Group in 2012. Twenty-first-century collaborations with architects and designers include Steven Holl, David Chipperfield, Vico Magisgtretti, Karim Rashid and Daniele Puppa. Works produced by Fontana Arte can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Vitra Design Museum in Well am Rhein Germany, but also the Triennale di Milano in Milan. 

Daniele Puppa designed in the 1990s a range of slim lined glass tablelamps on cast aluminium foot. This giant floorlamp is very rare to find and part of this designer collection. The lamp is in good condition consistent with age and use. The hood is carried ‘free’ on a slim aluminium cross upon the pole of the foot. Rare and beautiful floorlamp in good condition consistent with age and use. 

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