Pietro Chiesa

PIETRO CHIESA (Milan, 1892-1948) for Fontana Arte.
Table lamp, Italy, 1950s.
Glass, aluminum and brass.
Its diffuser has been restored using the Japanese kintsugi technique, based on the wabi-sabi philosophy.
By using gold leaf, kintsugi does not hide the passage of time, it honors it, transforming fractures into luminous veins full of meaning.
Measurements: 50 x 37 x 37 cm.

Exceptional table lamp of sculptural design, conceived by the Italian designer Pietro Chiesa for the firm Fontana Arte, Italy, in the 1940s. A rare piece of great aesthetic presence, representative of the refined formal language of Italian modernity of the mid-twentieth century. It stands on a circular base of translucent glass in the form of a disk, which supports the cylindrical shaft made of chiseled metal and decorated with delicate incisions of sogueado motif, which give texture and visual rhythm. The generously proportioned shade is made of cut glass, with an elaborate pattern of fine notches in a grid, giving the surface a slightly rough finish and a rich refraction of light. A golden fillet decorates the shade, adding a subtle ornamental touch.

Considered one of the leading exponents of Italian art deco, Pietro Chiesa worked as an apprentice in the studio of furniture designer and interior decorator Giovan Battista Gianotti in Milan. In 1921 he opened the Botega di Pietro Chiesa in Milan. In 1925 the Milanese designer showed his work at the "Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes" in Paris. In 1927 he joined Gio Ponti, Michele Marelli, Tomaso Buzzi, Emilio Lancia and Paolo Venini to found Il Labirinto, where high-quality furniture in the Novecento style was manufactured. There he concentrated mainly on glass design. In 1933 Chiesa became artistic director of Fontana Arte, the firm founded by Gio Ponti and Luigi Fontana. Fontana Arte began by concentrating on furniture and glass, but later became known for lighting. Pietro Chiesa treated glass as a valuable material, fragmenting it and using special cutting techniques. At the same time he created pure forms, such as the glass table of 1932, made from a single folded band of clear glass. In 1933 he designed "Luminator", an elegant flute-shaped floor lamp made of lacquered brass tube, which provided indirect light.