The calendar tradition of Piero Fornasetti

November 18, 2015

The CovetED Magazine discovered that the Italian empire Fornasetti has become a bit of a luxury cult in recent years. What do we know about the founder of this brand? Piero Fornasetti was an Italian painter, sculptor, interior decorator and engraver who lived most of life in Milan, attending the Brera Art Academy from 1930-32 when he was expelled for insubordination. Barnaba Fornasetti presents the 49th edition of the plate “Calendario”, carrying on the tradition started by his father Piero in 1968. The 2016 edition is dedicated to books: a recurrent passion for Piero Fornasetti who loved to collect precious volumes and one of his favourite motif in his amazing collection of images.

The choice of this subject wants to be also a good omen for a new Fornasetti project that will be related to publishing. The two poems on the spine of the books refer to this idea of novelty and birth and both have been composed expressly for this precious object to collect produced in a limited edition of 700 pieces.

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The series of plates “Calendario” (calendar) has become a distinctive trademark of Fornasetti atelier over the last years, therefore Barnaba Fornasetti – on occasion of the 49th plate presentation – has decided to show the entire collection at Fornasetti Store organizing the exhibition “Calendarium”, from the 3rd to the 31st December 2015.

The calendar plate is a tradition started by Piero Fornasetti in 1968. Its origins are based in the 1940s when Gio Ponti commissioned to Piero hand-printed booklets in limited edition, given exclusively to their friends during Christmas period and named “annuari”. Starting from 1968 until 1988 (when he departed), Piero replaced these booklets with porcelain plates; each of them showing days and months surrounded by typical Fornasetti motifs: suns, moons, playing cards, owls, cats, zodiac signs etc.

To keep this tradition alive, Barnaba has been carrying on the production of the calendar plate, with a limited edition of 700 pieces per year, since 1989.

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All calendars are used to keep track of time, but this Fornasetti icon – during the last half century – paradoxically demonstrated that it is timeless and it has drawn the attention of the antique and collectors market, reaching high quotations especially for the years run out or rare to find.