Italian Mid Century Modern Piero Fornasetti "Caccia" Coffee Table Milan 1955

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An important Italian Mid Century lacquered wood & brass, hand-painted & transferred coffee table, designed by Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988) in … Read more An important Italian Mid Century lacquered wood & brass, hand-painted & transferred coffee table, designed by Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988) in the "Caccia" pattern, 1955.
This fabulous iconic table was created by the Italian design visionary Piero Fornasetti, is in remarkable excellent condition, the top is decorated in the "Caccia" pattern, which translates from the Italian as "Hunt". The lacquered top having a ground imitating black veined marble & decorated with images of a flintlock pistol & a powder flask, a hunting knife & panels featuring game birds & flowers with a single feather.
The base with twin X-frame ends with a single stretcher, the base joined with brass ferrules & raised on tapered brass feet, to the underside is the original label signed "Fornasetti Milano Made in Italy".
Condition is remarkable, this rare & important example of Italian Mid Century Modern design is ready to grace your space.

Literature:
Barnaba Fornasetti and Mariuccia Casadio, Fornasetti: "The Complete Universe", New York, 2010

Biography:
Piero Fornasetti was a visual polyglot, an artist who moved seamlessly between drawing, painting, printing, and design. After being expelled from Milan’s Brera Academy for insubordination he opened his own art print-shop in 1930, laying the foundation for what would become the singular Fornasetti universe. Collaborating with artists like Fabrizio Clerici and Alberto Savinio, he produced limited-edition books and lithographs before turning toward furniture and interiors.
A pivotal meeting with architect Gio Ponti in 1940 sparked a long-running collaboration and nudged Fornasetti toward design for daily life. With Ponti’s encouragement, he began crafting furniture, trays, ceramics, and screens—all canvases for his dreamlike illustrations. His world was filled with optical illusions and neoclassical whimsy: suns, moons, playing cards, and the endlessly re-imagined face of opera singer Lina Cavalieri, whose image became a signature motif across more than 350 variations.
In 1956, he opened the first Fornasetti store on Milan’s Via Manzoni, where his pieces were often described as “practical madness.”
“I am my furniture and the pieces are my personal biography,” he once said. “What I did was something more than decoration—it was an invitation to the imagination.” See less