8 Piero Fornasetti Astrolabio Porcelain Plates circa 1960

Piero Fornasetti (1913-1988) lived and worked in Milan and was a man passionate about science. This "Astrolabio" series is normally composed of 12 different plates each representing a drawing of an astrolabe (or "astrolabos" in Greek), a tool historically used by astronomers. This model with its black patterns and golden decoration has a fantastic and very decorative look.

In 1940, Fornasetti met Gio Ponti, a famous architect and designer, with whom he became close and with whom he made many decorations.
Fornasetti became known for his design of highly refined, limited edition graphic works. His artistic approach was very eclectic. Indeed, his mind was open to all themes related to culture, science, ancient cartographies or complex astrology treatises, which allowed him to develop an extraordinary and unbridled creativity.

His drawings of fantastic architectures, ruins, games and characters have constantly played the role of rediscoveries, like his most famous portrait, that of the opera singer Lina Cavalieri, of which he made more than 350 metamorphoses from 1952.

An important retrospective of his work was held in Milan in 2013, in Paris at the Museum of Decorative Arts in 2015 and in Seoul in 2017.

Reference: Maruccia Casadio, Fornasetti : The complete Universe, New York, Éditions Rizzoli, 2010