Designer: Piero Fornasetti (1913 – 1988)

Item: Cigarette Box with Bissona Venetian Gondola Scene

Manufactured by: Piero Fornasetti

Country of origin: Italy

Year made: Early 1950s

Materials: Steel, wood, lithographed images, paint and felt

Dimensions: 1 ¼” x 11 ¾” x 4”

Condition: Good.  There are nicks and small losses to the enamel and dings as shown.

Description: Here is an original vintage Piero Fornasetti made cigarette box with the Bissona (Venetian Gondola) scene design and early dovetailed corners on the wooden box.  This is a well documented early 1950s design used on both metal trays and boxes. We have found one other example that used a black ground with the exact same design, as well as the same color scheme on a metal tray. This box has its original red felt bottom and the very faintest signature and logo barely visible, even with a loop, in the lower right corner.  The condition of this example is consistent with a Fornasetti box that is over 70 years old with authentic wear from use. Original early vintage metal Fornasetti boxes are getting harder to find.

References: Fornasetti, Barnaba, Fornasetti: The Complete Universe, Rizzoli (2010), page 524.