Floor lamp Papillona by Tobia Scarpa for Flos 70s
About the Item
- Creator:Tobia Scarpa (Designer),Flos (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 75.2 in (191 cm)Width: 10.24 in (26 cm)Depth: 10.24 in (26 cm)
- Lampshade:Not Included
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1975
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Padova, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU6345236361322
Tobia Scarpa
Widely recognized as superstars of postmodern Italian design, husband-and-wife team Afra and Tobia Scarpa (1937–2011; b. 1935) collaboratively created chairs, sofas and other furniture that work equally well in both traditional and cutting-edge environments.
Afra Bianchin and Tobia Scarpa met as architecture students at the Università Iuav di Venezia. In a class led by architect and furniture designer Franco Albini, they created their first collaborative piece, the Pigreco armchair, later produced with Gavina. After graduating in 1957, Tobia Scarpa worked for Murano glass company Venini & Co. before the couple opened a studio in Afra’s hometown, Montebelluna, in 1960. (Tobia, the son of famed glass artist and architect Carlo Scarpa, was born in Venice.)
Ranging from architecture and interior design to furniture and clothing, the Scarpas’ practice from its beginnings in the mid-1950s to the 21st century has included a diverse scope of projects combining new technology with thoughtful function and sculptural yet simple forms.
For Afra and Tobia, a close collaborative process was pivotal to the success of their designs. The duo was also prolific — they designed for the most influential European manufacturers, including B&B Italia, Cassina, Knoll and FLOS. With respect to the latter, Afra and Tobia were among the legendary Italian lighting maker’s earliest collaborators, and their pioneering designs for the brand included the Papillon lamp, one of the first fixtures to use halogen technology. Their most recognized designs include the Bastiano sofa (1962), the Vanessa bed (1959), the Coronado sofa (1966) and the Soriana seating collection (1970). Work on the Soriana sofa began in late 1969 for an early 1970 debut, and it feels as radical today as it did in its heyday.
Architecture was also a central part of Afra and Tobia’s practice, which spanned residential buildings and factories for Italian companies such as Benetton. Their commissions for the global fashion brand included numerous industrial projects, from textile plants to storefronts. By 1985, Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s work was celebrated in a 30-year retrospective at Center Four in Queens, New York. Looking around the 30,000-square-foot exhibition space, Afra joked to the New York Times, “Seeing all those things makes us feel very tired, and now we feel that maybe we worked too much.”
It was not too much for their legacy, as Afra and Tobia Scarpa’s work continues to inspire new generations. Scarpa designs are in collections at the Louvre, the Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum. The couple was awarded the Compasso d’Oro in 1970 for the Soriana armchair.
Find vintage Tobia Scarpa table lamps, sofas, dining chairs and other furniture today on 1stDibs.
Flos
Imaginative lighting is a longtime hallmark of modern Italian design. Following in the footsteps of innovative companies such as Artemide and Arteluce, the company FLOS brought a fresh aesthetic philosophy to the Italian lighting field in the 1960s, one that would produce several of the iconic floor lamp, table lamp and pendant light designs of the era.
FLOS — Latin for “flower” — was founded in the northern town of Merano in 1962 by Cesare Cassina (of the famed Cassina furniture-making family) and Dino Gavina, a highly cultured businessman who believed that artistic ideas espoused in postwar Italy could inform commercial design. The two enlisted brothers Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni as their first designers.
Even before FLOS was formally incorporated, the Castiglionis gave the firm one of its enduring successes with the Taraxacum pendant and associated designs made by spraying an elastic polymer on a metal armature. (George Nelson had pioneered the technique in the United States in the early 1950s.) For other designs, the brothers found inspiration in everyday objects. Suggestive of streetlights, their Arco floor lamp, with its chrome boom and ball-shaped shade sweeping out from a marble block base, has become a staple of modernist decors. Designing for FLOS since 1966, Tobia Scarpa has also been inspired by the commonplace. His folded-metal Foglio sconces resemble a shirt cuff; his carved marble Biagio table lamp looks like a jai alai basket.
In 1973, FLOS purchased Arteluce, the company founded in 1939 by Gino Sarfatti, and it continues to produce his designs. In recent decades, FLOS has contracted work from several noted designers, including Marcel Wanders and Jasper Morrison. As instantly recognizable as they are, many FLOS designs remain accessible. While FLOS lighting is the essence of modernity, its sleek, subtle designs can be used to strike a sculptural note in even traditional spaces.
Browse a broad range of FLOS lighting fixtures at 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Albignasego, Italy
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- White metal sconce, applique Foglio by Afra e Tobia Scarpa for Flos 60s, 70sBy Afra & Tobia Scarpa, FlosLocated in Padova, ITFLOS - Foglio, a historic piece from the Flos catalog designed by Tobia Scarpa, is a wall lamp with direct/indirect and partially diffused light with a steel structure. Born in Venic...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsMetal
- Vanessa metal bed by Tobia Scarpa for Gavina 70sBy Tobia Scarpa, GavinaLocated in Padova, ITBorn in Venice in 1935, Tobia Scarpa is the son of the famous architect Carlo Scarpa. Together with his wife Afra, Tobia began working in the Venini glass factory in Murano in the 19...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
MaterialsMetal
- Vanessa red metal bed by Tobia Scarpa for Gavina 70sBy Tobia Scarpa, GavinaLocated in Padova, ITBorn in Venice in 1935, Tobia Scarpa is the son of the famous architect Carlo Scarpa. Together with his wife Afra, Tobia began working in the Venini glass factory in Murano in the 19...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Daybeds
MaterialsMetal
- Floor, Table Lamp Noce T by Achille Castiflioni for FlosBy Achille Castiglioni, FlosLocated in Padova, ITIconic floor side lamp Noce T designed by Achille Castiglioni and produced by Flos 1970s. It owes its name to the rounded shape that suggests a half walnut. T...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsAluminum
- Adjustable Floor Lamp Sky by Francesco Fois for Reggiani 60s 70sBy Goffredo Reggiani, Francesco FoisLocated in Padova, ITFunctional and aesthetically beautiful, this composition of 3 chromed steel stems with 2 spirals at the ends fits perfectly between the attics of normal homes. this composition calle...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsSteel
- Floor, Table Lamp Totum by Boccato, Gigante, Zambusi for Zerbetto 60s, 70sBy Boccato Gigante Zambusi, ZerbettoLocated in Padova, ITThis wall/ceiling lamp was designed by the Italian architect team Marilena Boccato, Gian Nicola Gigante and Antonio Zambusi for Zerbetto Padova in 1976. It can be used as a wall or c...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- PAPILLONA Floor Lamp by Tobia Scarpa for Flos, Italy - 1975By Tobia Scarpa, FlosLocated in Berlin, DEMaterial: Cast aluminum powder-coated, textured glass mirrored, halogen rod 300 watt or corresponding bulb LED, cord switch on connection cable, dimmer on rod. Condition: Good origi...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Floor Lamps
MaterialsAluminum
- Vintage Italian Papillona Lamp by Tobia & Afra Scarpa for Flos, 1970sBy Afra & Tobia Scarpa, FlosLocated in London, GBA very stylish and iconic vintage Italian Papillona lamp by Tobia and Afra Scarpa for Flos. This was made in Italy and dates from around the 1970’s. This is of super quality and has...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- Afra and Tobia Scarpa for Flos "Papillona" LampLocated in New York, NYAfra and Tobia Scarpa (Italian, 1935-2011, b. 1937) for Flos "Papillona" Floor Lamp, patinated white metal, designed 1975, stamped "Flos / Papillona 750 / Design Registerd / Made in ...Category
Late 20th Century Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal
- "Butterfly" floor lamp by Afra and Tobia Scarpa for FlosBy Afra & Tobia Scarpa, FlosLocated in Conversano, ITStunning floor lamp designed by Afra & Tobia Scarpa for the Italian company "Flos" in the 1980s, model Butterfly. Black enameled aluminum stem surmounted by a dimming halogen lamp; a...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Floor Lamps
MaterialsSteel
- Afra & Tobia Scarpa, Fantasma, Floor Lamp, Flos, 1960sBy Flos, Afra & Tobia ScarpaLocated in Paris, FRAfra & Tobia Scarpa Fantasma A floor lamp, the internal metal frame covered with a sprayed resin coated shade. Produced by Flos. Circa 1964. Italy. Note One lamp in the collection...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsResin
- Fantasma Grande by Tobia Scarpa for Flos 1961By Tobia ScarpaLocated in Arezzo, ItalyFantasma Grande floor lamp designed by Tobia Scarpa for Flos in 1961. This rare early production is in excellent condition, large version, designed by Tobia Scarpa in the early 1960s...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Floor Lamps
MaterialsMetal