PIO ZANOTTI (1904-1997) - MIRROR - Lot 39

PIO ZANOTTI (1904-1997) - MIRROR in rosewood veneer, inlaid with leaves and punctuated with four red lozenges, surrounded by gilded fillets. Height 48 cm - Width 47.5 cm Provenance : Pio Zanotti Collection and descendants Born in 1904 in Mongrando, northern Piedmont, Italy, Pio Zanotti trained in Biella before opening his first cabinetmaking workshop in his native town in 1926. There, he created the cabinetwork for the choir of the San Rocco church. In Mongrando, Zanotti is the exclusive licensee of the patented chemical wood-bending technique. Following in the footsteps of the technique developed by Thonet at the end of the 19th century, this technique uses a chemical process to transform hard wood into a malleable, flexible material, without the need for special tools. The wood adapts to any curve, any shape, when cold. It is then heated for one or two days, depending on its thickness, and regains its natural rigidity. This process saves considerable time and material - curved elements no longer have to be cut directly from the wood. Bending is used for boat hulls, furniture and sports equipment. This technical research was also pursued in Finland by Alvar Aalto with his laminated birch bending process at the end of the 1930s. Pio Zanotti then travelled to Paris in 1931 to visit the Exposition Coloniale Internationale, where furniture by Ruhlmann, Printz and Subes was presented at the Palais de la Porte Dorée. In 1932, he set up a cabinetmaking workshop in Asnières, then in 1947 founded Ébénisterie Moderne in Bois-Colombes. Transferred to a former textile factory in Argenteuil in 1950, the company, now known as Société Industrielle et Technique d'Application du Bois (SITAB), specialized in the manufacture of furniture for radios, televisions and hi-fi systems. The workforce grew from 50 to 300 in ten years. At the same time, the company developed the production of seating, furniture and office equipment. Its activities then expanded to the mass production of kitchen and bathroom furniture, the fitting out of major international hotels such as the El Aurassi hotel in Algiers and Mercure hotels, and the equipping of ski resorts such as Tignes, Val d'Isère and Val Thorens. In the midst of reconstruction, the factory was equipped with the most modern machinery. The organization of the workshop is based on a rational circuit, designed to efficiently link the different stages. Pio Zanotti collaborated with several designers and decorators, including Pierre Paulin, Joseph André Motte, Robert Sentou and the German company Flötotto, known for its mass-produced modular furniture. In the early 1960s, Pio Zanotti designed the interior of the house he had built in Le Vésinet by architect Jean Marie. In contrast to a cold, minimalist modernism, he created a warm atmosphere in keeping with the spirit of the mid-century, in which wood is showcased in its various uses: rosewood panelling, elm coffered ceiling, hexagonal inlaid parquet, solid wood interior joinery and exterior clerestory. A majestic spiral staircase on a central stringer, composed of different types of wood and supported by an elegantly slender post, continues the undulating movement of the mezzanine and forms the centerpiece of the house. Following his retirement in 1978, Pio Zanotti devoted himself to the production of small marquetry objects - boxes, vases, frames and mirrors - as well as furniture. The furniture he creates is faithful to the spirit of Italian design of the 1940s and 1950s, as represented by Gio Ponti, Pietro Chiesa, Carlo Mollino and Paolo Buffa: formal elegance, clean lines and modern forms.