Piero Fornasetti (Italian, 1913–1988). <em>Plate, Eva</em>, ca. 1954. Glazed earthenware, 1 x 10 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (2.5 x 26 x 26 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Jane Adams Breed, 2005.37.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2005.37.9_PS2.jpg)

Piero Fornasetti (Italian, 1913–1988). Plate, Eva, ca. 1954. Glazed earthenware, 1 x 10 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (2.5 x 26 x 26 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Jane Adams Breed, 2005.37.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2005.37.9_PS2.jpg)

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Do you know if these plates were inspired by or a tribute to classical Italian forms? The plate with the apple and the one with the snake make me think of the Adam and Eve story.

Piero Fornasetti, an Italian designer, was very proud of his country, his culture and heritage. The image of Eve on this plate is inspired by Classical Roman images of women and goddesses. The hair, eyes and lips all allude to the classical ideal. This series of plates, along with it's companion Adam series, is among Fornasetti's most famous works.

Makes sense that there would be an Adam series. It's a beautiful set. Not sure I'd like to be the dinner guest getting the one with the snake, though. :)

Haha! Good point! Though an image of an arm or a leg under your dinner might be equally as disturbing! Although Fornasetti is clearly referencing and celebrating the Classical and Renaissance traditions here, he's also deconstructing it (quite literally). Here is a body in pieces! Neither the ancient Romans nor the Renaissance Florentines would ever have depicted the human body as an imperfect fragment.

Oh, interesting point. Do you think he was trying to convey a message, or just deconstructing the body for its own sake?

That's a difficult question to answer. His son, Barnaba Fornasetti, who runs the studio today, said of his practice: "My father designed a kind of creative system that can still be used today and in the future. It’s a method of using images from the past, from all over the world, that are already stored in our brains, then reusing and recycling them in different ways while putting your own identity into it as well...It’s something old-fashioned and very fashionable. It’s not modern or antique. It’s not surreal, but it is,” he says. “It’s everything and nothing at the same time."

Eva plates - were these a one off or were they commercial?

Piero Fornasetti intended for his work to be made in series and mass-produced, with no distinction between original and reproduction.

The company Fornasetti founded still exists and is currently run by his son, too!

Tell me more.

These plates are so much fun! Piero Fornasetti was extremely successful as a designer during his lifetime and his son Barnaba still runs his company today.

As I'm sure you can guess, this image, called Eva, is based on a Classical image, something abundant in Italy. Fornasetti was known for his wild imagination.

Can you tell me more about this? Were these plates actually used or were they only for decorative purposes?

Fornasetti was an Italian designer who was clearly inspired by Classical imagery as well as historic prints---especially prints from the Renaissance---when creating these plates. This series along with its companion set, "Adam," is one of his most famous works.

While these are plates, they were certainly created within the context of Postmodern art, which was characterized in some cases by a lack of functionality. So while they certainly could be used, I doubt that was the main concern in Fornasetti's design process.

Plate, Eva

Decorative Arts and Design

On View: Decorative Art, 4th Floor

Today when we think of where inventive contemporary design is manufactured, we often think of Italy. This, however, was not always the case. Wide acceptance of modern design came somewhat later in Italy than elsewhere, perhaps because of the ever-present conservative influence of the palpable Roman classical past and the slow development of the Italian economy in the twentieth century. To be sure, before World War II there were important modern designers in Italy, foremost Gio Ponti, an architect from Milan whose influence spread beyond his native country through two architecture and design magazines he founded, Domus and Stile. And the Fascist regime of Mussolini in the pre-World War II period did embrace modern architecture, unlike the Nazi regime in Germany, which consciously rejected modernism as a source of foreign, moral corruption. It was not, however, until the post-World War II era, when the Italian economy expanded rapidly, that Italian modern design achieved international recognition.

One pivotal event made consumers in the United States aware of the diversity and accomplishments of modern Italian design—the exhibition Italy at Work, which travelled to twelve venues between 1950 and 1954. The exhibition was initiated by the Art Institute of Chicago in partnership with two organizations devoted to the promulgation of Italian design, Handicraft Development Incorporated in the United States and its corresponding institution in Italy, CADMA. Italy at Work included hundreds of objects by more than 150 artisans and manufacturers and featured furniture, ceramics, glass, textiles, metalwork, jewelry, shoes, knit clothing, and industrial design. The exhibition opened at the Brooklyn Museum, and at its conclusion, when the objects were dispersed among the host institutions, the lion’s share, more than two hundred items, came to the Museum.

In the second half of the twentieth century, Italy became a center for modern design. Many foreigners went there to study and work at small, adventurous firms that produced high-quality objects.

DESIGNER Piero Fornasetti, Italian, 1913–1988

MEDIUM Glazed earthenware

Place Made: Milan, Italy

DATES ca. 1954

DIMENSIONS 1 x 10 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (2.5 x 26 x 26 cm) (show scale)

MARKINGS On bottom, transfer printed in black, on rim: "ALTO/HAUT/TOP [inside scroll pierced by arrow]". On bottom, transfer printed in black, center: "[Leaf]/2/EVA/FORNASETTI . MILANO/MADE IN ITALY"

COLLECTIONS Decorative Arts and Design

ACCESSION NUMBER 2005.37.9

CREDIT LINE Gift of the Estate of Jane Adams Breed

CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Plate, porcelain, of circular dished form, number 2 from the 12-piece "Eva" (Eve) series. Transfer-printed decoration in black on white ground of left foot and a coiled snake on diagonally crosshatched ground.

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view in Decorative Art, 4th Floor

CAPTION Piero Fornasetti (Italian, 1913–1988). Plate, Eva, ca. 1954. Glazed earthenware, 1 x 10 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (2.5 x 26 x 26 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Estate of Jane Adams Breed, 2005.37.9. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2005.37.9_PS2.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 2005.37.9_PS2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2008

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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