With his stylish and technically innovative furniture, Osvaldo Borsani helped change the face of Italian design in the 1950s and ’60s. His sofas and chairs, featuring deeply upholstered seating and adjustable position settings, have an aura of optimism and efficiency that still seems fresh and lively today.
Born in the commune of Varedo in northern Italy’s Lombardy region, Borsani studied at the Brera Academy in Milan — the same school attended by such luminaries as designer Piero Fornasetti and artist Lucio Fontana — as well as the Polytechnic University of Milan. Borsani first worked for his father’s furniture-making firm, Arredamenti Borsani, an atelier influenced by the more expressive and curvaceous wing of Art Deco design.
By 1953, when, along with his twin brother, Fulgenzio — the pair also created this visionary mid-century villa — Borsani opened the furniture company Tecno, his design sensibilities had evolved toward furnishings with strong, simple forms enhanced by mechanical innovations, as with the P40 adjustable armchair. Borsani would be the firm’s lead designer for 30 years, while fostering work by Vico Magistretti, Carlo De Carli, Robin Day and others.
Similar to Gio Ponti in the earliest years of his career, Borsani first created designs marked by lush and buoyant lines: tables with voluptuous curved legs, sofas with undulating backrests.
But Borsani’s best-known and most novel pieces date from Tecno’s initial furniture lines: the adjustable D70 sofa, which folds open to make a daybed, and the P40 recliner. The latter — now included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Victoria & Albert Museum — is an articulated lounger with a back, seat and leg rest that can be moved into 486 different positions. Not only is it extremely comfortable, it is also enduringly chic.
Find a collection of vintage Osvaldo Borsani tables, dining chairs and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Pierluigi Giordani round coffee table, carved wood and crystal top, 1950
By Pierluigi Giordani
Located in Rome, IT
rare coffe table disegned by Pierluigi Giordani occasional organic round table realized for a privet client in Treviso in 1950 Solid structure made by walnut wood and thick glass top...
Crystal
Osvaldo Borsani round dining table, walnut, four feet, circa 1951
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Rome, IT
Osvaldo Borsani round dining or center table, circa 1951 produced by Arredamento Borsani Varedo 1951 the table is one of a series od table designed as prototype of model T40 walnut...
Walnut
Augusto Romano round beech and straw coffee table, 1948
By Augusto Romano
Located in Rome, IT
A rare side table designed by Italian designer Augusto Romano around 1948. A well-executed table that features a round wooden top with a border that is meticulously adorned with brai...
Straw, Beech
large Gio Ponti coffee table, walnut and Fontana arte thick glass, 1940
By Gio Ponti
Located in Rome, IT
Gio Ponti coffee table with an important Fontana arte glass top, 1950 walnut, glass and brass feet very good original condition measures: height: 49cm ; 113 x 54 cm ; glass thickne...
Brass
Ico Parisi mid-century italian round walnut dining table, Three Feet, 1950
By Ico Parisi
Located in Rome, IT
Important center or dining table in walnut and mirrored top, attributed to Arch. Ico Parisi mirrored top; the mirror glass is not coeval at the tabl...
Brass
Round Coffee Table Mirror Top Black Laquered Two-Tier Attributed to Borsani 1940
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Rome, IT
Round coffee table attributed Osvaldo Borsani, circa 1940 black laquered walnut, mirrored glass top in mirrored glass, fine carved feet two shelves, tiers good original condition...
Mirror, Walnut
Osvaldo Borsani Blond Walnut Center Table, Coffee Table, Italy 1940s
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Roma, IT
Marvellous round coffee table in a fantastic old walnut. This fantastic piece was design by Osvaldo Borsani in the 1940s in Italy. The coffee table, fully made in a gorgeous walnut,...
Wood, Glass, Walnut
Large Round Art Deco Coffee Table, Walnut, French Design, 1930
Located in Wiesbaden, DE
Large Round Art Deco Coffee Table This round Art Deco coffee table makes a particularly striking impression in clean, architecturally struc...
Walnut
1930 Oval Side Table Coffee Table Art Deco by Osvaldo Borsani in Veneered Walnut
By Osvaldo Borsani, Atelier Borsani Varedo
Located in Vigonza, Padua
Oval side table or coffee table Art Deco by Osvaldo Borsani in veneered walnut with lynx eye veneer top. Measures cm: H 63, W 70, D 50 (internal shelves H37cm).
Walnut
Art Deco Organic Vintage Circular Walnut Oak Coffee Table circa 1925 Vienna
Located in Vienna, AT
Art Deco organic circular two tier coffee table or side table from walnut and oak circa 1925 Vienna. An amazing coffee table or side table from walnut and oak with two tiers and slightly curved legs. Both tops are connected with a squared stem. With a wonderful grain and veneer pattern at the top and shellac polished surface this table makes it very easy to create your home, It works wonderfully with all types of styles, this organic structure could be easy installed to each type of interior, especially for an eclectic mixture. This Viennese coffee table...
Oak, Walnut
1940s Mid-Century Coffee Table Centre Table by Paolo Buffa, Walnut wax-polished
By Paolo Buffa
Located in Vigonza, Padua
1940s Mid-Century Art Deco coffee table by Paolo Buffa in walnut with glass top , restored and polished to wax. Measure cm: H 48 x D 68.
Glass, Walnut
Mid-Century Modern Coffee Table by Osvaldo Borsani, Italy, 1940s
By Osvaldo Borsani
Located in Piacenza, Italy
Wood and glass coffee table attributed to Osvaldo Borsani. Elegant low table with peculiar shape composed by a circular top and a unique base all realized in glass and finely decora...
Glass, Wood
