HAPPY
2012 – with - Fornasetti calendar plates. Piero Fornasetti’s collectable
calendar plates were first created and produced in 1968.
Piero’s son, Barnaba has continued with this
tradition since 1989, establishing a limited edition of 700 plates. The early
editions of the calendar plates have entered the auction circuit selling at
high prices. Other special New Years objects where produced and in the 1940s,
the annuari or yearbooks were created in cooperation with Gio Ponti;
hand-printed booklets in limited edition were given exclusively to friends and are
of an unobtainable rareness.
Photograph courtesy Fornasetti
The Fornasetti mirrors. A collection
of more than twenty mirrors with curved reflective surfaces, either concave or
convex, which therefore have a deforming, enlarging or transformative effect
are on show in the Fornasetti Milan flagship store. The mirrors are embellished
or etched to various degrees, and are enclosed in beautifully decorated frames.
These are magical objects because in their very complexity they induce a vivid
sensation of ancient legends and fantastic stories, recalling aspects of a
long-forgotten collective imagination. There was a well-known belief in
northern European folklore that a convex mirror was “the witch’s eye” because,
just like a huge eye, it could both observe and attract the attention of
others. The strategy was to place at least one of these next to a door or
window to prevent the entry of the evil eye and misfortune.
Above: The Optical Mirror designed by Barnaba Fornasetti has four
convex mirrors decreasing in size; the wooden frame is decorated with a black
and white optical pattern.