The Decorative Arts of the 20th century and Design auction, scheduled for 25 and 26 June 2026, brings to market a selection of exceptionally high-quality works, many of which have never before appeared at auction and come from important private collections.
Among the highlights of the catalogue are two special groups: a collection dedicated to the master designer Ico Parisi and a group of furnishings from the home of Aurelio Zanotta, designed by Studio De Pas-D'Urbino-Lomazzi. Together they offer a glimpse into the experimental and visionary spirit of the 1970s.
The first session features a group of furnishings designed by Ico Parisi between the late 1940s and the early 1950s, emblematic of the most fertile and successful period of the Como-born designer’s career. A particular highlight is the console table with Y-shaped legs, instantly recognisable as a hallmark of the “Parisi” style. Produced in a variety of woods, the example offered here is crafted in Italian walnut and was made by Fratelli Rizzi of Intimiano (lot 114). Also from the same lakeside residence overlooking Lake Como are a pair of armchairs and two sofas produced as prototypes by Colombo, from which the “Model 813 Egg Armchair” and the “Model 812 Sofa”, subsequently manufactured by Figli di Amedeo Cassina from 1953 onwards, were derived (lots 110, 111, 112, 113 and 115). Their design was so innovative that Gio Ponti remarked: “Dear Parisi… I have admired the masterly sofa. I am enchanted by it and lay my admiration at the feet of the magister comensis.” Further examples of Ico Parisi’s work, produced for other commissions during the 1950s and 1960s, will also be offered.
Lot 114
Ico Parisi
Side table/console table. Execution by F.lli Rizzi, Intimiano (Como), 1947.
Estimate € 9.000 - 10.000
Lot 113
Ico Parisi
Egg-shaped sofa model "812". Execution by Ariberto Colombo, Cantu, 1951ca.
Estimate € 9.000 - 10.000
Another coherent group comprises furnishings designed and crafted by the artist-cabinetmaker Giuseppe Rivadossi during the 1970s and 1980s for the Milan home of an important patron. These are true furniture-sculptures, characterised by evocative forms and finely carved in solid Slavonian oak (lots 81–87).
Lot 84
Giuseppe Rivadossi
"Blocco Galla"
Sculptural table. Execution by Officina Rivadossi, Ship (Bs), 1969ca.
Estimate € 3.000 - 4.000
Also worthy of particular attention are a number of furnishings by Osvaldo Borsani (lots 127–131), Paolo Buffa (lots 121–122), Tomaso Buzzi (lots 53 and 54), and Luigi Caccia Dominioni (lots 139–147). Italian lighting is equally well represented by important lamps designed by Max Ingrand for Fontana Arte (lots 104–107), Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce (lots 97–101), and Gino Sarfatti for Arteluce (lots 132–138).
Lot 130
Osvaldo Borsani
Pair of floor lamps model "LT8". Produced by Tecno, Varedo, 1954ca.
Estimate € 6.500 - 7.000
Lot 107
Max Ingrand
Suspension lamp model "1441". Produced by Fontana Arte, Milan, 1950s.
Estimate € 16.000 - 18.000
Lot 137
Gino Sarfatti
Suspension lamp model "2109/12". Produced by Arteluce, Milan, 1950s.
Estimate € 11.000 - 12.000
Within the decorative arts section are a collection of ceramics by Fausto Melotti (lots 5–16), a rare bowl from Carlo Scarpa’s “a macchie” series for Venini (lot 33), glass objects and sculptures by Venini, unique ceramic works by Roberto Crippa dedicated to Milena Milani (lots 1 and 2), ceramic objects by Gio Ponti (lots 3 and 4), a refined collection of bronze roundels by some of the leading Italian sculptors of the first half of the twentieth century, and a large-scale ceramic panel by Pietro Melandri (lot 18).
Lot 33
Carlo Scarpa
Cup model “4475” from the foundry catalog of the series "a macchie". Manufacture of Venini, Murano, 1940s/1950s.
Estimate € 5.500 - 6.000
Lot 18
Pietro Melandri
Panel with grotesque motifs, decorated in relief with stylized anthropomorphic and plant figures. Faenza, 1955-60.
Estimate € 3.300 - 3.500.
Among the most important lots of the first session are also a George Nakashima “Conoid Bench” from a private collection (lot 125); an armchair from Ernesto Basile’s “Carretto Siciliano” series (lot 57); a “Sessantuna” table designed by Gaetano Pesce to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification and produced by Cassina in 2011 in a numbered edition of 61 examples (lot 63); and a rare “Regolo” seating suite by Gianfranco Fini for Poltronova, crafted in Russian pine (lots 78–80).
Lot 125
George Nakashima
"Conoid Bench"
Bench. Usa, 1960s/1970s. Solid American black walnut, hickory, and Indian rosewood.
Estimate € 22.000 - 25.000
Lot 63
Gaetano Pesce
Table model "Sessantuna". Produced by Cassina, Meda, 2011. Resin.
Estimate € 10.000 - 15.000
The second session, held on the morning of 26 June, opens with the sale of furnishings from Aurelio Zanotta’s apartment, designed and furnished by Jonathan De Pas, Donato D’Urbino and Paolo Lomazzi in Monza between 1974 and 1976. As the architectural and design historian Giovanni Klaus Koenig wrote in 1989: “I am convinced that it will be a long time before we find other works of design displaying the same happiness as theirs (happiness equals ease, as with Mozart).”
The apartment, conceived as a domestic environment centred on the kitchen and living areas, separated by sliding walls and a sculptural staircase, is characterised by vivid colours and a Pop Art-inspired aesthetic. It was furnished by the three architects together with the entrepreneur, using predominantly Zanotta-produced pieces. Highlights include the “Sacco” armchair by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini and Franco Teodoro, offered here in a rare grey-green pied-de-poule fabric version (lot 154); two “Linda” disarticulated chairs, among the most significant designs by De Pas, D’Urbino and Lomazzi (lot 157); “April” folding chairs by Gae Aulenti (lot 163); the freestanding “Joy” bookcase by Achille Castiglioni (lot 175); the “Quaderna” console table by Superstudio (lot 176); and the ingenious extendable console-table prototype by Emaf Progetti, preserved by Aurelio Zanotta in his own home (lot 178).
Lot 163
Gae Aulenti
Six folding chairs model "April". Produced by Zanotta, Nova Milanese, 1964. 18/8 stainless steel frame.
Provenance: Aurelio Zanotta Apartment, Monza.
Estimate € 1.700 - 2.000
Lot 175
Achille Castiglioni
Freestanding bookcase with rotating shelves model "Joy". Produced by Zanotta, Nova Milanese, 1989.
Provenance: Aurelio Zanotta Apartment, Monza.
Estima € 1.000 - 1.200
Lot 176
Superstudio
Console of the series "Quaderna". Produced by Zanotta, Nova Milanese, 1970.
Provenance: Aurelio Zanotta Apartment, Monza.
Estimate € 3.000 - 3.500
The session continues with Art Deco furnishings by Pier Luigi Colli from an apartment in Novara, Murano glass and lighting, a small section devoted to architectural drawings by Carlo Scarpa (lots 263–266), and concludes with a group dedicated to Piero Fornasetti.
Lot 266
Carlo Scarpa e collaboratori
Two sheets of cardboard containing the study of the marble wall of the bathroom of the Olivetti shop in Piazza San Marco in Venice, and the study of the lettering for the sign "dell'istituto federale delle casse di risparmio". Venice, 1959-63.
Estimate € 700 - 800
The third and final auction session offers a significant overview of twentieth-century Italian decorative arts, opening with a selection of Murano glass, ceramics and predominantly Italian furnishings. Particularly noteworthy are a substantial group of Massimo Vignelli lamps in Venini glass featuring a variety of polychrome textures (lots 439–450), furniture by Azucena (lots 454–468), and a collection of resin-and-fabric vases by Gaetano Pesce (lots 389–405).
Lot 457
Luigi Caccia Dominioni
Pair of floor lamps model "LTE5 imbuto". Produced by Azucena, Milan, disegno del 1953, esemplari degli anni 70/80.
Estimate € 1.400 - 1.500
Lot 405
Gaetano Pesce
“Big Surprise 2 Fare” Vase of the series "Edizioni del Pesce". Produced by Meritalia, Como, 2010ca.
Estimate € 1.800 - 2.000
Lot 403
Gaetano Pesce
‘Round Vase Fare Large’ vase of the series "Edizioni del Pesce". Produced by Meritalia, Como, 2010ca.
Estimate € 900 - 1.200