Console by Ico Luisa Parisi by Singer Sons USA 1950

The Italian architect, artist and furniture designer Ico Parisi (1916–96) and his wife and frequent collaborator, Luisa Parisi (1914–90), formed one of the most prolific and spirited European design teams of the postwar period. Together they created a magnetic aesthetic that combines the refined angularity and elegance of the work of Gio Ponti with the liveliness and lightness of the furniture of Carlo Mollino. 

Ico Parisi — his first name is short for Domenico — was born and raised in Palermo. He moved to the northern Italian city of Como in the early 1930s and lived and worked there the remainder of his life. He initially studied and worked as a civil engineer, but later became an associate in the office of architect Giuseppe Terragni, a leading light of the stern and formal Rationalist design movement. Ico moved in artistic circles that included Lucio Fontana and Bruno Munari; after he married Luisa Aiani — a former student of Gio Ponti’s — in 1947 their design studio became known as an artists’ salon. The couple’s big break as designers came the following year when their work was shown, along with that of Carlo Mollino, Paolo Buffa, Franco Albini and other greats, leading to contracts with manufacturers such as Cassina and Singer Sons.

What attracted these firms was the Parisis’ fluency with a wide array of furniture forms. No two looks are quite alike. Their body of work includes a series of coffee and dining tables and consoles for Singer Sons created in the early 1950s that feature notch-edged tops and javelin-shaped legs, and cabinets and credenzas such as those with plain fronts and molded-teak and plywood detailing for MIM Rome (1959). Their chairs range from sleek dining pieces with supple, bone-shaped backrests for Singer Sons to the lush Model 813 Uovo, or Egg chair, for Cassina (1951). Then, as now, Parisi furnishings can fill an entire decor, yet seem eclectic and at the height of style.

New York furniture manufacturer M. Singer Sons is well known to collectors of dazzling mid-century modern design — the company played an integral role in introducing Italian furniture masters to the American marketplace and introduced striking dining room tables, lounge chairs and dressers that were created in rich woods and met the day’s growing demand for sleek and simple furnishings.

While M. Singer Sons had been offering upholstered furniture out of its storefront in downtown Manhattan in as early as 1923, it is today widely recognized for the alluring tables, seating and other designs of the postwar era. 

M. Singer Sons rose to prominence in the 1950s. A boom in prosperity followed World War II, and new homeowners all over the United States were seeking modern furniture to move into their living rooms and dining rooms. This yielded a heyday of innovation, and the likes of Herman Miller, Knoll and other furniture manufacturers of the era endeavored to position themselves as leaders in the space. M. Singer Sons was no different, and the company’s success over the subsequent decade can be credited to Joe Singer, who was then steering the ship. 

Singer saw how important it was to offer furnishings in a style that broke from the bulky and overly ornamental pieces that characterized interiors in the previous century — M. Singer Sons would need to manufacture streamlined storage cabinets, low-profile coffee tables and practical but comfortable seating that didn’t occupy lots of real estate.

It was thanks to his quest for modernist furniture that Singer discovered legendary polymath Gio Ponti, arguably the most influential figure in 20th-century Italian modernism. 

Singer reached out to Ponti and offered a partnership for M. Singer Sons to bring the Milanese designer’s work to America. He created elegant armchairs, sideboards set on tapered legs and more for the company. At the same time, Singer struck up a collaboration with Bertha Schaefer, an acclaimed Mississippi-born interior decorator and the owner of an important Manhattan art gallery at the time Schaefer, an enthusiast of Bauhaus design, would go on to create sculptural walnut desks, angular seating framed in mahogany and other pieces for the brand. With conceptual input from Ponti, she developed a furniture line called Modern by Singer.

The new collection — which merged the alluring forms and materials associated with Italian modernism and quality American manufacturing — was an instant success for M. Singer Sons. Smooth lines, exceptional hardwoods and luxurious finishes lent the line a high-end feel and spurred demand.

A Schaefer-designed nesting table from the Modern by Singer line was included in 1952’s “Good Design” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, which featured work from the likes of George Nelson, Paul McCobb, Jens Risom and others. 

M. Singer Sons introduced Ponti to an American audience, and he, in turn, introduced the company chairman to Italian designers like Ico Parisi and Carlo Mollino. These relationships also developed into successful collaborations that helped cement M. Singer Sons' presence and prominence in modern American furniture. 

Today, M. Singer Sons’ designs by Schaefer and its stable of Italian designers are coveted and collected all over the world.

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