Fornasetti Themes & Variation Porcelain Plate with Original White Box,
Number 200,
The Statue,
1990s

The Fornasetti porcelain plate is number 200 in the Themes & Variation series. The image shows a giant neoclassical bust of a woman on a plinth with a wood construction grid around her with a rope and hock to the left side. The Themes and Variation pattern depicts variations of the image of the famous opera singer Lina Cavalieri.

Dimensions: 10 inch diameter x 1 1/2 inch height

Reference: Fornasetti: Designer of Dreams, Patrick Mauries, page 192.

Mauries writes: For Fornasetti, a single product never exhausted the possibilities of an idea. He loved to let his imagination roam, finding more and more layers of meaning and association in the process. Much of his work, therefore, takes the form of variations on a theme.

Favorite themes include the Sun, playing cards, harlequin, hands and- above all- an enigmatic woman's face that he found in a 19th century French illustrated magazine and which fired him to go on creating image after image until he had turned out over 500, most of them in the form of dinner plates.. They are, in a way, a mediation on the mystery of femininity, the same face appearing, as in a dream, as a moon, a flower, a lake, a mask, a mosaic, a clock, a single disembodied eye..

TEMA E VARIAZIONI
(http://www.fornasetti.com/en/story/temavariazioni/)

For Piero Fornasetti, a single idea provided enough inspiration to create infinite variations. In fact, much of his work involved constant evolutions of specific themes. By allowing his imagination to roam freely. Fornasetti was able to constantly reinvent or reinterpret an image.

Of these themes, the most recurrent are the sun, playing cards, harlequins, hands, self-portraits. But the most famous, the image that inspired Fornasetti to coin the title 'Tema e Variazioni', is the enigmatic face of a woman: the opera singer Lina Cavalieri.

He found that now iconic face as he leafed through a 19th century French magazine and became fascinated. Taking her as much as a muse and as a motif, he would return to Lina Cavalieri's face again and again throughout his career. The archetypal classic female features, and enigmatic expression of Lina Cavalieri became Fornasetti's most frequently used template and upon which he based more than 350 variations.

Lina Cavalieri's face, explained Piero Fornasetti, was another archetype - a quintessentially beautiful and classic image, like a Greek statue, enigmatic like the 'Gioconda' and therefore able to take shape into the idea that was slowly building in his mind. It was this formal, graphic appeal (rather than Lina Cavalieri's celebrity) that demanded such loyalty and inspired the spontaneous and ceaseless creativity of Fornasetti. For him, this face became the ultimate enduring motif. With great modesty all these works were reproduced on a series of everyday objects like the plate. Tema e Variazioni shows its variations playing with one idea.

(Ref: NY10483-npn)


Condition:
Alterations: Original Condition Unaltered
Imperfections: Some Imperfections
Condition Notes: Good condition

Dimensions:
Height: 10 in.
Width: 10 in.
Depth: 1.5 in.

Category: Decorative Plates
Origin: Italy
Materials: Porcelain
Creator: Brand: Atelier Fornasetti; Artist: Piero Fornasetti; Designer: Piero Fornasetti

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Location: This item ships from Downingtown, PA

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Original Condition Unaltered; Some Imperfections; Good condition