Ettore Sottsass Furniture

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.
1990s Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Marble
2010s Italian Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Murano Glass
2010s Italian Post-Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Steel
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Steel
Early 2000s Italian Post-Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Art Glass
1990s Italian Post-Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Aluminum
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Laminate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Glass
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
1990s Italian Post-Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Laminate, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Porcelain
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Satinwood
2010s Italian Post-Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Metal
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Glass, Mirror
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Oak
2010s Spanish Mid-Century Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Ceramic
1990s European Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Brass
1980s Italian Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Ceramic
20th Century Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Brass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Metal
Early 2000s Italian Post-Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Plywood
2010s Italian Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Ceramic
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Plastic
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Ceramic
1970s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Metal, Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Glass
1990s Italian Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Plastic
Early 2000s Japanese Post-Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Plastic
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Plastic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Plastic
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Marble
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Metal, Chrome
1990s Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Murano Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Aluminum, Steel
1980s European Post-Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Stainless Steel
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Wood
1980s Italian Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Porcelain
2010s Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Porcelain
2010s Italian Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Enamel
2010s Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Ceramic
1960s Italian Aesthetic Movement Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Marble, Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Plastic, Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Plastic
1990s European Modern Ettore Sottsass Furniture
Glass, Wood