Italian Card City Table Lamp by Fornasetti

An Italian 'Citta di Carte' table lamp by Piero Fornasetti, second half 20th century. 41.34 in. high including the shade. Reference: Fornasetti - Designer of Dreams, Patrick Mauries, Thames and Hudson, Published 1992, Page 212 for double page colour illustration. Published to coincide with the exhibition at Victoria and Albert Museum, London 1991-1992. 'A World of Cards. Walls, towers, totem poles, castle courtyards, skyscrapers - even the statue of the king placed on his pedestal - all stand precariously waiting for a puff of wind to blow them down. The exception is the cards pegged to the clothes-line like shirts billowing in the breeze. Fornasetti teases us with the card washing-line. On one of the towers and in the foreground, the card characters have emerged from their setting into the real world.