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Fornasetti Themes and Variation Porcelain Plate, Pattern #101
$650
£494.97
€565.23
CA$913.33
A$1,002.10
CHF 527.86
MX$11,921
NOK 6,761.78
SEK 6,174.43
DKK 4,222.81
About the Item
The Sun-Faced Muse: Fornasetti's Tema e Variazioni Plate #101
Decorative Plate, Pattern #101 from the Tema e Variazioni Series
Artist/Designer: Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988)
Manufacturer: Fornasetti, Milan
Medium: Porcelain, Transfer-printed and Hand-decorated
Date: Circa 1990s
This porcelain plate from Piero Fornasetti’s most famous series, Tema e Variazioni ("Theme and Variations"), is a quintessential piece of post-war Italian design. Pattern #101 features the radiant sun motif, its center glowing with the face of 19th-century opera singer Lina Cavalieri, who served as Fornasetti’s lifelong muse and creative anchor.
The design is a masterful exercise in surreal whimsy, merging classical iconography with graphic precision. Cavalieri's classically beautiful, enigmatic face is set within a stylized sunburst, encircled by dramatic, cloud-filled skies rendered in high-contrast black and white. This configuration, where her face becomes the sun itself, exemplifies Fornasetti’s ability to merge the mundane and the mythological.
Fornasetti’s fascination began in 1952 when he discovered Cavalieri’s portrait in a vintage French magazine. He was drawn not to her celebrity, but to the "formal perfection" of her features and her inscrutable expression. Seeing her as a timeless archetype, he began a visual dialogue that resulted in nearly 400 surreal reinterpretations across various objects, from plates and trays to furniture. Each variation, including this one, is a playful twist on identity and symbolism, inviting the viewer to engage with a visual riddle.
Historical Context: The Surrealist in the Home
Piero Fornasetti was a visionary artist and designer whose work spanned furniture, fashion, and fine art. His practice stood in sharp contrast to the austere functionalism that dominated European design in the mid-20th century.
Surrealist Influence: Fornasetti embraced the Surrealist tradition of Magritte and Dalí, injecting humor, mystery, and fantasy into everyday objects. He believed that art should invite the viewer to dream, escape the mechanized world, and engage with imagination on a daily basis—and that objects, even a plate, should participate in this dialogue.
The Theme and Variations Series: This series is Fornasetti's most enduring legacy, demonstrating his unique concept of industrialized art. He used highly mechanized techniques (like the transfer print used here) to produce objects with the visual flair and wit of fine art, making them fragments of a lifelong artistic conversation.
References
Barnaba Fornasetti., Fornasetti: The Complete Universe (The definitive catalog of the artist’s work; references the Tema e Variazioni series extensively).
Patrick Mauriès., Fornasetti: Designer of Dreams (Provides deep biographical and artistic context for Fornasetti’s obsession with Cavalieri).
(Ref: NY10919-ipr)
- Dimensions:Height: 1 in (2.54 cm)Diameter: 10.25 in (26.04 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1990s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Downingtown, PA
- Reference Number:Seller: NY10919-ipr1stDibs: LU861047974522
About the Seller
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