Notes

The first series of 24 plates – 12 plates forming the image of Adam and 12 forming the image of Eve – was designed by Piero Fornasetti in the 1950s. The images of the two figures are in the style of Renaissance engravings.

The Italian designer Piero Fornasetti is well known for his finely crafted mid-century modern furniture and accessories. His work is best described by the design principle of ‘practical madness’, where creativity is in perfect harmony with and distinctly linked to the utility of the object and its manufacturing technology. So, for example, he clads a chest of drawers in a black and white image of a Palladian Renaissance palazzo, giving a 3D object the anomalous appearance of a flat, 2D surface. The art of the Renaissance was his favourite source of inspiration, as is evident from his use of the figures in Albrecht Dürer’s famous engraving of Adam and Eve as the source for his images of Adamo and Eva, creatively electroplated on a series of porcelain plates.

Literature

Patrick Mauries (1991) Fornasetti: Designer of Dreams, London: Thames & Hudson. Another example from the edition illustrated in black and white on pages 234 to 341.