Osvaldo Borsani and Lucio Fontana - Design London Wednesday, September 30, 2015 | Phillips

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  • Literature

    Irene de Guttry and Maria Paola Maino, Il Mobile Italiano Degli Anni '40 e '50, Bari, 1992, p. 110, fig. 10 for a similar example

  • Catalogue Essay

    The present drinks cabinet conveys all the lively enthusiasm of early 1950s Italy. In this period Osvaldo Borsani, a principal proponent of the Art Deco style in Italy, and Lucio Fontana, founder of the Spatialist movement, made an unlikely but dynamic pair when they collaborated on a number of projects. The present lot is an example of how they typically cooperated, with Borsani producing the furniture onto which Fontana would contribute surface decorations. Here, the double-lobed front is mounted with a pair of fantastical baroque bronze handles, the shaped doors slide apart to reveal a mirrored and illuminated interior decorated by Fontana.

106

Rare illuminated drinks cabinet

circa 1950
Bronze, painted glass, glass, mirrored glass, mahogany, mahogany-veneered plywood, brass, painted brass, painted wood, coloured glass.
141.6 x 113.2 x 53 cm (55 3/4 x 44 5/8 x 20 7/8 in.)
Manufactured by Arredamenti Borsani, Varedo, Italy. Glass panel painted by Lucio Fontana, Milan, Italy. Archivio Lucio Fontana number N 3838/1.

Estimate
£20,000 - 30,000 

Sold for £50,000

Contact Specialist
Madalena Horta e Costa
Head of Sale
+44 20 7318 4019

Design

London Auction 1 October 2015