Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
With his stylish and technically innovative furniture, Osvaldo Borsani helped change the face of Italian design in the 1950s and ’60s. His sofas and chairs, featuring deeply upholstered seating and adjustable position settings, have an aura of optimism and efficiency that still seems fresh and lively today.
Born in the commune of Varedo in northern Italy’s Lombardy region, Borsani studied at the Brera Academy in Milan — the same school attended by such luminaries as designer Piero Fornasetti and artist Lucio Fontana — as well as the Polytechnic University of Milan. Borsani first worked for his father’s furniture-making firm, Arredamenti Borsani, an atelier influenced by the more expressive and curvaceous wing of Art Deco design.
By 1953, when, along with his twin brother, Fulgenzio — the pair also created this visionary mid-century villa — Borsani opened the furniture company Tecno, his design sensibilities had evolved toward furnishings with strong, simple forms enhanced by mechanical innovations, as with the P40 adjustable armchair. Borsani would be the firm’s lead designer for 30 years, while fostering work by Vico Magistretti, Carlo De Carli, Robin Day and others.
Similar to Gio Ponti in the earliest years of his career, Borsani first created designs marked by lush and buoyant lines: tables with voluptuous curved legs, sofas with undulating backrests.
But Borsani’s best-known and most novel pieces date from Tecno’s initial furniture lines: the adjustable D70 sofa, which folds open to make a daybed, and the P40 recliner. The latter — now included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria Albert Museum — is an articulated lounger with a back, seat and leg rest that can be moved into 486 different positions. Not only is it extremely comfortable, it is also enduringly chic.
Find a collection of vintage Osvaldo Borsani tables, dining chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Wood
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Metal
1850s French Antique Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Pine
Early 20th Century French Directoire Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Walnut
2010s Balinese Organic Modern Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Glass, Wood
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Aluminum
19th Century Antique Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Wood
18th Century Italian Baroque Antique Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Wood
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Art Glass, Birch
Late 19th Century European Antique Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Glass, Wood
19th Century Swedish Antique Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Glass, Wood
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Brass
19th Century Swedish Gustavian Antique Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Glass, Wood
1940s Italian Art Deco Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Bronze
1940s Italian Art Deco Vintage Osvaldo Borsani Vitrines
Bronze
