Ettore Sottsass

ETTORE SOTTSASS (Innsbruck, Austria, 1917 – Milan, Italy, 2007) for BD Barcelona.
“Shiva” vase, designed in 1973.
Pink-glazed ceramic.
Features a molded “bd E. SOTTSASS” mark on the base.
Measurements: 23 x 17.2 x 7 cm.

“Shiva” is one of Ettore Sottsass’s most iconic designs and a key piece of Italian radical design from the 1970s. Conceived in 1973 for BD, the vase transforms a functional object into one with a strong sculptural character. Its shape evokes the lingam, a symbolic representation of the Hindu god Shiva, reflecting the profound impact that Sottsass’s travels to India and his interest in Eastern cultures and rituals had on him. The bright pink finish also introduces the irreverent and sensory element characteristic of his work from this period.

Created nearly a decade before the founding of the Memphis Group, “Shiva” already foreshadows essential principles of Sottsass’s mature work: color, symbolism, geometry, and a conception of the everyday object as a kind of “small architecture.” Its historical significance is underscored by the presence of examples of this model in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Ettore Sottsass was one of the key figures in 20th-century Italian design. After an extensive collaboration with Olivetti—for which he developed some of his most influential designs—he founded the Memphis group in 1981, which played a decisive role in the international revival of postmodern design. His body of work spanned furniture, ceramics, glass, lighting, and architecture, and is widely represented in major international design collections, including MoMA and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.