Isa Bergamo Curved Sectional Sofa, Rohleder Chocolate Velvet, Italy 1950's

Details

Description

ISA Bergamo Curved Two-Piece Sectional Sofa with Solid Brass Legs in Rohleder Chocolate Velvet, Italian Mid Century

Some sofas sit … Read more ISA Bergamo Curved Two-Piece Sectional Sofa with Solid Brass Legs in Rohleder Chocolate Velvet, Italian Mid Century

Some sofas sit in a room. This one makes an entrance.

Produced by ISA Bergamo, the Italian manufacturer behind some of Gio Ponti’s most coveted seating, this two-piece sectional is pure midcentury Italian glamour: a long, low, sweeping curve that bends around a room like it’s leaning in to tell you a secret. Clean-lined but sensual, minimal but never cold, it’s the kind of silhouette that made the 1950s and ’60s Italian design scene the envy of the world.

The sofa is composed of two sections, a straight piece and a dramatic curved piece, joined by an original latch so they lock together seamlessly as one continuous sweep, or separate when your floor plan (or your mood) demands it. It’s a sectional with range: one night it’s a cocktail party conversation pit, the next it’s the world’s chicest spot for a Netflix marathon.

It’s upholstered in sumptuous chocolate velvet by Rohleder, one of Germany’s premier upholstery weavers, in a deep, glossy brown that shifts in the light like a really good espresso. Think less “fabric,” more “melted Valrhona.”

Beneath it all, the sofa perches on tapered, solid brass stiletto legs (yes, every single one, and yes, they’re solid). They carry a rich, warm patina that could be polished to a high shine if you’re so inclined, but why would you? That glow took decades to earn. It’s the furniture equivalent of a vintage Rolex: you don’t buff out the character.

As for its past, let’s just say this sofa has stories. I was told it was once owned by a glamorous male movie star-- and it came directly from his family in LA-- but there is no photographical documentation we could find-- so as for now, it's just hearsay. It does definitely have the bearing of something that once anchored a very glamorous living room, the kind with a martini cart, a view, and guests who arrived in Cadillacs. Let's just say, it would look right at home on the set of North by Northwest. We’ll let you fill in the rest.

Fans of Gio Ponti, Gigi Radice, Ico Parisi, Marco Zanuso, Osvaldo Borsani, Paolo Buffa and Carlo Mollino will recognize the shared DNA here: sculptural curves, slender brass feet and that unmistakable Italian ease. Pair it with a Ponti-style armchair, a Parisi coffee table or simply a very large Negroni and a Cuban cigar.

About ISA Bergamo
ISA, short for Industria Salotti e Arredamenti and also known as ISA Bergamo and ISA Italia, was founded in the late 1940s in Ponte San Pietro, just outside Bergamo in northern Italy. The company became celebrated for producing striking seating and furniture designed by Gio Ponti as well as Ico and Luisa Parisi, and it advertised in leading publications like Domus, the influential architecture and design magazine Ponti founded. By the 1950s, ISA had become a household name in Italian furniture manufacturing with nearly 400 workers, and in the 1960s it even ran a department dedicated to producing furniture for the American market. Today, ISA pieces are among the most sought-after examples of Italian midcentury upholstered seating.

About Rohleder
Rohleder was founded in 1946 in Konradsreuth, in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. What began as a family-run textile business has grown into one of Europe’s leading upholstery fabric weavers and one of its most modern weaving mills. Still family owned and 100% made in Germany, Rohleder entered the U.S. market in the late 1970s, and its fabrics today appear in the collections of top furniture manufacturers, editors and fabric houses worldwide.

Details

Manufacturer: ISA Bergamo, Italy
Era: Midcentury
Configuration: Two pieces (one straight, one curved) with original connecting latch
Upholstery: Rohleder chocolate velvet
Legs: Solid brass with natural patina
Dimensions: Straight section 56" L; 88" diagonally measured. See less