1940, for Fontana Arte, Milan, walnut veneer, the convex bent glass doors painted in silver and leaf gold by Piero Fornasetti in the reverse glass painting technique, textile fringes, marked: FX, height 171 cm, width 110 cm, depth 46 cm. (DR)

A unique piece.

Exhibited: - VIIth Triennale, Piazza dell Arte, Milan, 6 April – 30 June 1940 - Camera con Vista: Arte e Interni in Italia 1900–2000, Palazzo Reale, Milan, 18 April – 1 July 2007 - Espressioni di Gio Ponti, Triennale, Museo della Triennale, Milan, 6 May – 24 July 2011.

Lit.: Domus, no. 151, July 1940, p. 45 (design drawing) - L. Settembrini - R. Ferrario, Camera con Vista: Arte e Interni in Italia 1900–2000, Milan 2007, ill. pp. 219/20 - M. Casadio - B. Fornasetti, Fornasetti, I. L’Artista Alchimista, II. La Bottega Fantastica, Milan 2009, ill. p. 372, cat. nos. 68–69 - G. Celant, Espressioni di Gio Ponti, Milan 2011, ill. p. 30, cat. no. 42.

This cabinet, which was first presented at the 7th Milan Triennial, is a unique object and resulted from the collaboration of the most important exponents of Italian design of their period as a joint product. The design came from Gio Ponti. Piero Fornasetti decorated the wavy glass front composed of convex and concave bents, which was produced by Fontana Arte, in intense colours in the reverse glass painting technique: elements in the classical style, musical instruments, bouquets of fruit – the entire spectrum of Fornasetti’s wealth of form, partially finished with silver foil and gold.