Architect and designer Cesare Lacca is renowned for the modernist furniture he created during the 1950s. Made with materials like teak, glass and brass, his work continues to command great interest from mid-century modern collectors. His pieces have recently found their way onto some of the 21st century’s most trendy television and movie sets.
Lacca was born in Naples, Italy, in 1929. Like many Italian designers in the 20th century, he moved to Milan after World War II to launch his career. At the age of 20, he was selected by a group of American curators for inclusion in the 1951 landmark exhibition “Italy at Work: Her Renaissance in Design Today” at the Art Institute of Chicago. It showcased Italian designers who had embraced modernist principles and rejuvenated traditional Italian crafts, like Carlo Mollino, Franco Albini and Gio Ponti.
Lacca designed a dizzying array of tea carts and serving trolleys across his career, including magazine racks and coffee tables. Lacca’s most well-known piece is a tea cart — most commonly used as a bar cart — that Cassina manufactured. It features beautifully sculpted beech, cedar, teak and walnut with brass details, a glass tabletop and a removable glass tray.
This Lacca cart was featured as Don Draper’s office bar in his Manhattan advertising agency on several episodes of the wildly popular television show Mad Men, reinvigorating the interest of collectors. Several other Lacca pieces have been part of the set decorations in the television series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and the movie Being the Ricardos.
On 1stDibs, find Cesare Lacca tables, racks and stands, seating and more.
$1,582Sale Price|30% Off
H 33.86 in W 99.22 in D 42.13 in
Mid-Century Modern Italian Velvet four Seater Curved Sofa, 1950s
Located in Puglia, Puglia
Curved four-seater sofa, Italian design, solid wood structure and legs, original vintage chenille velvet upholstery, 1950s production. Conditions as s...
Chenille, Velvet, Beech
Mid Century Italian Curved Sofa in Cotton Velvet, 1950s
Located in London, London
Italian Curved Sofa in Cotton Velvet, 1950s A beautifully proportioned Italian sofa dating from the 1950s, distinguished by its elegant sculptural form and refined organic lines. Th...
Velvet
Mid-Century Modernist Curved Sofa in Oyster Velvet Upholstery
Located in New York, NY
This stunning Mid-Century Modernist curved sofa is a quintessential example of sophisticated 1980s American design. Featuring an elegant, flowing silhouette, the sofa’s gently curved...
Velvet
$4,751Sale Price|30% Off
H 35.44 in W 74.81 in D 36.62 in
Attributed Gio Ponti Mid-Century Modern Velvet Sofa for ISA, 1950s
By Gio Ponti, ISA Bergamo
Located in Puglia, Puglia
Elegant and splendid three-seater sofa with high backrest attributed Gio Ponti, 1950s, for ISA Edizioni, Bergamo. Carved profile, refined lines, sensual and deep comfort. The ivory v...
Velvet, Beech, Fir
$3,713Sale Price|30% Off
H 35.44 in W 55.91 in D 27.17 in
Marco Zanuso Style Mid-Century Modern Velvet Sofa "Lady", 50s
By Marco Zanuso
Located in Puglia, Puglia
Lady Marco Zanuso style sofa. The sofa has been restored and upholstered in blue velvet, the feet are in beech wood. Immediately after the war, Marco Zanuso began a fruitful collabo...
Velvet, Beech, Fir
$3,135Sale Price / item|30% Off
H 39.77 in W 49.22 in D 31.5 in
Marco Zanuso Attributed Mid-Century Modern Velvet Sofa Senior, Italy, 1950s
By Marco Zanuso
Located in Puglia, Puglia
Senior 2 seater sofa from the 50s, the sofa is characterized by a tapered structure with brass feet. The sofa was completely restored some time ago, with light green velvet upholster...
Brass
Curved Italian mid-century velvet sofa, 1950s
Located in Uppsala, SE
Curved Italian mid-century sofa with dark grey velvet upholstery from the 1950s in the style of Marco Zanuso or Gigi Radice. The seat section rests on five black metal legs with bras...
Metal, Brass
$67,200Sale Price|30% Off
H 25.2 in W 93.31 in D 31.5 in
Curved Sofa by Joaquim Tenreiro, Midcentury Brazilian Design, 1950s
By Joaquim Tenreiro
Located in New York, NY
A prolific and gifted designer, Joaquim Tenreiro (1906–1992) masterfully laid the groundwork for modern living in Brazil through his furniture and interiors. Born in Portugal and tra...
Leather, Hardwood
Sculptural Midcentury Italian Sofa in Faux Lambswool
Located in Kent, Dover
An Italian sofa of sculptural design, with soft curves, on six tapering wooden legs and newly upholstered in buttoned faux lambswool.
Beech
$10,366
H 36.23 in W 114.18 in D 35.44 in
Ico Parisi Curved fabric sofa with brass legs by Isa Bergamo, Italy, 1950s
By Ico Parisi, ISA Bergamo
Located in Chiavari, Liguria
Curved fabric sofa with brass legs, designed by Ico Parisi, manufactured by Isa Bergamo. This sofa, designed by Ico Parisi, epitomizes the finest stylistic research of the 1950s. It...
Brass
Isa Bergamo large Art Deco walnut mohair velvet sofa 1940s
By ISA Bergamo
Located in Paris, IDF
This exceptional sofa, attributed to Isa Bergamo, and dating from the 1940s, is an outstanding example of post-war Art Deco Italian design. Its crescent-shaped seat rests on a low wo...
Velvet, Walnut
Italian brutalist sofa solid walnut and white chenille velvet 1960s
Located in Paris, IDF
Beautiful brutalist three seater sofa from an anonymous Italian designer created in the 1960s. The feet and structure are made of solid walnut, with beautiful details and craftsmansh...
Velvet, Walnut
Raphaël Raffel croissant sofa in Mohair velvet 1970s
By Raphael Raffel
Located in Paris, IDF
Beautiful sofa by Raphaël Raffel for Maison Honoré Paris produced in the mid-1970s. The sofa has been fully restored and newly upholstered with a beautiful light beige mohair velvet ...
Velvet
Maurice Dufrène giltwood brown velvet sofa circa 1925
By Maurice Dufrêne
Located in Paris, IDF
This very elegant Corolle model sofa was designed in 1925 by Maurice Dufrêne for the workshops of La Maîtrise, the decorative arts department of Galeries Lafayette, where he served a...
Velvet, Giltwood
Midcentury Italian Lacquer Brass Living Room sofa by Romeo Rega, 1970s
By Romeo Rega
Located in Paris, IDF
This sofa from the Mid-Century Modern Italian Riviera period designed by Romeo Rega is bursting with nostalgia. With its impeccable design, perfect proportions, and high-end Italian ...
Brass
Unique Isabelle Richard Faure Oxidized Brass Velvet Sofa Bed, 1970s
By Isabelle Masson-Faure, Richard Faure, Maison Honoré
Located in Paris, IDF
This unique sofa bed was created by Isabelle and Richard Faure for Parisian design firm Maison Honore in the late 1970s. Entirely covered by decorated oxidized and patinated brass al...
Brass
