Gaetana Aulenti

Emilio Ambasz, ed., Italy: The New Domestic Landscape, exh. cat., Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1972, p. 109

R. Craig Miller, Modern Design in The Metropolitan Museum of Art 1890–1990, New York, 1990, pp. 260–61 (for an example of the model in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

David A. Hanks and Anne H. Hoy, Design for Living: Furniture and Lighting 1950-2000, Paris, 2000, p. 99

Charlotte Fiell and Peter Fiell, eds., 1000 Lights: 1960 to Present, Cologne, 2005, pp. 88-89

During the second half of the 20th century, Gae Aulenti made a name for herself in the male-dominated fields of architecture and industrial design. She is undoubtedly best remembered for her design of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris in the 1980s, successfully converting the historic train station into an exhibition space, but the "Pipistrello" table lamp proved to be her most lasting product design. Created for Martinelli Luce in 1965, the “Pipistrello” is distinguished by its inventive telescoping base, which enables the lamp to conform to a variety of heights and settings. Its title translates to “bat,” whose wings are evoked by the contours of the lamp’s perspex shade. Executed in contrasting shades of black and white, the present pair is a sleek and versatile example of postwar Italian design.