Gio Ponti and Piero Fornasetti

Melanie Kahane

Patrick Mauriès, Fornasetti:  Designer of Dreams, London, 1991, pp. 20, 53, 100 and 180
Ugo La Pietra, ed., Gio Ponti, New York, 1995, p. 167

The original "Architettura" trumeaux, such as this one, have curved tops and tapering legs and were designed by Gio Ponti and decorated by Fornasetti.  Later examples created under Fornasetti's supervision were more rectangular in shape with block legs. 

Famed interior decorator Melanie Kahane graduated from Parsons School of Design and continued her studies in Paris for one year before opening her own design firm in the 1930s.  Early in her career, she devised a control system for her business which was adopted throughout the industry.  She also became known as an industrial designer, working on kitchen and cabinet products as well as designs for Westinghouse and RCA.  In addition to styling the interiors of private residences, she oversaw the design and renovation for many larger spaces, including five Shubert theaters in New York, Boston and Chicago, several restaurants, the First National Bank of Fort Worth, and various rooms at the Waldorf Hotel, New York.