Carlton Room Divider
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Post-Modern Bookcases
Laminate, Wood
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Bookcases
Wood, Laminate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Wood, Plastic
Vintage 1980s American Post-Modern Armchairs
Steel
Vintage 1950s Danish Hollywood Regency Buffets
Metal, Gold Leaf
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Vintage 1970s Italian Modern Stools
Steel, Chrome
Mid-20th Century Finnish Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets
Birch
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
Bouclé, Wood
2010s Saudi Arabian Modern Sofas
Wool, Velvet
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Art Deco Chandeliers and Pendants
Metal
Antique 16th Century Indian Jewelry Boxes
Silver
2010s American Post-Modern Floor Mirrors and Full-Length Mirrors
Mirror, Hardwood
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Armchairs
Bouclé, Wood, Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Floor Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
Metal
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern More Carpets
Wool
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Sectional Sofas
Leather
Late 20th Century French Post-Modern Coat Racks and Stands
Steel
Recent Sales
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Bookcases
Vintage 1980s Italian Bookcases
Plastic
Antique Early 19th Century English Regency Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Rosewood, Giltwood
Antique Mid-18th Century English Chinoiserie Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Lacquer
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Bookcases
Wood
2010s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Shelves
Laminate
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Chrome
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wine Coolers
Aluminum
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Bookcases
Laminate
Antique 19th Century French Chandeliers and Pendants
Crystal, Bronze
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Bookcases
Laminate
Vintage 1980s Italian Post-Modern Bookcases
Laminate, Plywood
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Screens and Room Dividers
Laminate, Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Table Lamps
20th Century American Bookcases
Vintage 1980s European Modern Bookcases
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Bookcases
Wood
Vintage 1980s Italian Modern Table Lamps
Ettore Sottsass for sale on 1stDibs
An architect, industrial designer, philosopher and provocateur, Ettore Sottsass led a revolution in the aesthetics and technology of modern design in the late 20th century.
Sottsass was the oldest member of the Memphis Group — a design collective, formed in Milan in 1980, whose irreverent, spirited members included Alessandro Mendini, Michele de Lucchi, Michael Graves and Shiro Kuramata. All had grown disillusioned by the staid, black-and-brown “corporatized” modernism that had become endemic in the 1970s. Memphis (the name stemmed from the title of a Bob Dylan song) countered with bold, brash, colorful, yet quirkily minimal designs for furniture, glassware, ceramics and metalwork. They mocked high-status by building furniture with inexpensive materials such as plastic laminates, decorated to resemble exotic finishes such as animal skins. Their work was both functional and — as intended — shocking. Even as it preceded the Memphis Group's formal launch, Sottsass's iconic Ultrafragola mirror — in its conspicuously curved plastic shell and radical pops of pink neon — embodies many of the collective's postmodern ideals.
Sottsass's most-recognized designs appeared in the first Memphis collection, issued in 1981 — notably the multihued, angular Carlton room divider and Casablanca bookcase. As pieces on 1stDibs demonstrate, however, Sottsass is at his most imaginative and expressive in smaller, secondary furnishings such as lamps and chandeliers, and in table pieces and glassware that have playful and sculptural qualities.
It was as an artist that Ettore Sottsass was celebrated in his life, in exhibitions at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in 2006, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art a year later. Even then Sottsass’s work prompted critical debate. And for a man whose greatest pleasure was in astonishing, delighting and ruffling feathers, perhaps there was no greater accolade. That the work remains so revolutionary and bold — that it breaks with convention so sharply it will never be considered mainstream — is a testament to his genius.