Elio Martinelli

ELIO MARTINELLI (Lucca 1922-2004) for Martinelli Luce.
Table lamp "Cobra 599", model 629. First edition. Italy, 1968
In red thermoformed resin with swivel base and full rotating shade.
Condition: vintage, good overall condition; light abrasions and homogeneous patina; original marked base.
Measurements: 40 x 40 x 40 cm.

Reading lamp of great formal and technical exquisiteness. The lower part of the body rotates on a steel base connected to the upper part of the body by means of a central joint for a 360° rotation. Designed by Elio Martinelli in 1968, "Cobra" is one of the first luminaires manufactured with a special resin casting system. The lamp exudes precision and elegance. The spherical shape is transformed by the rotation of the arm, adopting a position reminiscent of a cobra's head ready to strike.

Trained by the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence as a set designer, Elio Martinelli began to take his first steps in the field of lighting in the business of his father Plinio. After a few years and after several experiences in the scenography sector, he decides to start his own business focusing initially on interior design and set-up of stores, restaurants, hotels and pubs. Due to the need to finish his plans, he drew and made the lighting fixtures on his own. During the 50's, Elio accentuates his simple and rigorous inspiration giving a strong impulse to his company that becomes a point of reference for Italian design in the geometry of lighting and nature considered from its many forms. A crescendo of intuitions and experimentations using new materials such as methacrylate. From these first tests were born very different lamps such as Foglia, Bolle, Cobra or Biconica. Elio Martinelli was an inexhaustible source of ideas and innovation whose design objects such as Cobra, Bolla, Semisfera and many others are still examples of this original design impulse.