il modo italiano: the revolutionary designers of the 60s and 70s: getting to know them, collecting them and finding them.

cini & nils:  1973 MOMA EXHIBITION ICONS

There seems to be an explosion in interest in Italian design of the Panton/Kartell/Ponti era recently.  Ebay North America  has not been the optimal place to buy and sell in this category, as a seller in this region would find it difficult to properly categorize such items.  I did, however, note that the Italian Ebay site DOES have "modern design" or 'contemporary' as an option for listing such objects.  Nevertheless, as I have been selling a unique collection of some of the iconic objects of Italian 60s and 70s design recently, it occured to me that I should spend some time giving you resources to help you explore and appreciate this exciting era in design, and perhaps highlight several key players and principal iconic objects along the way.  If you are a North American buyer on Ebay in search of these precious items, your work will not be easy, but inserting references in your search words to the more known general names (Panton, Ponti, Eames etc); OR references to important manufacturers/design groups of the era (Danese, Flos, Artemide, Cassina,etc), may yield interesting results.

If you are a novice to collecting groundbreaking design oART2LOVE1MEfeedbackbjects from the 60's and 70's, the Italian school would be the place to start.  Read about the 1973 seminal exhibition at MOMA in NY, which showcased some of the greatest names in design in those early years, the proponents of which were brilliant architects, artists and engineers who propelled design of domestic and boring objects to new heights.  THE NEW DOMESTIC LANDSCAPE, the title of the exhibit, redefined and reshaped our expectations of the mundane, utilitarian object, and fostered a true appreciation for excellence in design and in material selection and development. 

You may wish to search ITALIAN DESIGN books, catalogues, museum archives, collections, online collections and any serious literature you can get access, but do not forget the definitive PHAIDON DESIGN CLASSICS (in 3 volumes), which is a wonderful place to start and a good investment.   It is the first comprehensive and authoritative collection of classic design objects. This beautifully illustrated three-volume set of books presents 999 industrially manufactured products, carefully selected by a group of experts. It is the first definitive illustrated sourcebook on the evolution of design to include such a wide scope of objects in detail.

From cars to furniture, from tableware to cameras, from everyday objects to airplanes, this breadth of design has never before been collected in such a way before. PHAIDON DESIGN CLASSICS tells the story of design’s evolution around the world from the late 1600's to the present, bringing together patents, prototypes, old advertisements, original drawings, images showing the process of manufacturing, as well as rare archival photographs. The anthology features an astonishing 4,000 images.

The objects are presented chronologically, beginning with an elegant pair of Chinese bonsai scissors from the early 1600s, still in production today, and ending with Barber Osgerby’s Lunar bath accessories, destined to become a classic. Glancing through the volumes, the reader will gain an understanding not only of the history of design, but a history of taste and culture. The book is an extraordinary journey through the objects that have shaped our society, from the first attempts to combine function and beauty in the nineteenth century, through the machine aesthetics of the thirties, the advent of plastic and other new materials in the fifties and sixties, up to the classics-to-be of the last ten years.

Several iconic objects are becoming very scarce these days, and though some of the original manufacturers still exist and may still produce the item, the original period objects are extremely hard to come by, and condition is important.  LOOK FOR THE ORIGINAL OBJECTS, IF YOU CAN, AND ASCERTAIN THEIR AUTHENTICITY before you purchase.  The famous NESSO and smaller NESSINO LAMP by Mattioli (1965 Italy); the SNOOPY FLOS LAMP (1967 Italy); the stunning stainless steel collections of knives, letter knives, bar tongs and bottle openers by the famous duo, CINI & NILS (c1969-73); the CUBOLUCE (cubical plastic night light) by CINI & NILS; or the legendary ENZO MARI plastic PAGO PAGO vase, do not come up for auction often.  These objects, as well as other iconic objects in plastic, paper, glass, steel or other composites, are going to increase in monetary value very fast.   I listed several of these items and listing others, so your visit would be most welcome to my humble place on Ebay.  I welcome your comments and suggestions, and promise you another installment, focusing on a particular period designer in the coming weeks.