Tavola Rotonda Acquamarina
Footed stand in pewter and Murano glass ø cm 32×10 h, limited edition of 99 pieces. Pewter casting, hand-finished with soldering and brush polishing operations. Blown Murano glass dish.
| Weight | 6,5 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 32 × 32 × 10 cm |
| Collezione | Tavole |
| Design | Ettore Sottsass |
| Edizione Limitata | 99 pieces |
| Materiale | Cast pewter hand-finished with welding and brush-polishing operations. Blown Murano glass plate. |
The edition size is the planned total for the edition, not the number of pieces currently available.
This work is part of the NUMA catalogue. Contact us to enquire about availability or other works in the collection.
The complete story of the work
Translated from the Italian original.
Tavole are six large centrepieces in limited edition, in pewter or in pewter and blown glass, “designed to give a meaning to the table and make it more magical and ritual”. Extraordinary interpretations by Ettore Sottsass of traditional materials, in the strongly iconographic language that distinguishes the great master.
The design path of Ettore Sottsass leads us, in 2004, to the encounter between the lightness and colour of Murano glass and the strong architectural construction of the pewter parts. The transparency of the glass does not conceal the structure of the metal; it discreetly contains and protects the good fruits and offers them to our desire as a precious good. The IV collection of NUMA consists of six pieces, six centrepieces that tell us of the joy and pleasure of conceiving objects that will accompany us in our daily gestures and rituals, becoming a happy part of our everyday life.
«Pewter is an ancient metal alloy: tin, copper, lead… what is produced with this alloy turns out immobile, solid, heavy. Contemporary pewter no longer contains the lead that gave objects a dark, medieval, Germanic surface: this alloy contains antimony instead: brilliant objects are thus made, similar to silver, which nevertheless do not lose their immobility and presence».
Ettore Sottsass
Pewter is an ancient material, which was already worked in Europe at the beginning of the sixteenth century, by casting a tin alloy into engraved iron or brass moulds and then working it with the techniques of etching and hammering to obtain forms of the artisan tradition. Contemporary pewter, protagonist of the Numa collections, is a noble alloy in every respect, with extraordinary characteristics of ductility and great plastic quality. Contemporary Pewter is made up of a composite set of metals, with the absolute exclusion of lead; it therefore keeps unaltered the distinctive characteristics that set it apart and its great plastic quality; it is absolutely hygienic and can be used to make objects for serving at table and in the kitchen, as well as, of course, for all furnishing objects.
Material:
Pewter is an alloy made of tin with small quantities of antimony and copper. Thanks to its ductility it has been used by man since antiquity to create objects of everyday use. In the centuries closer to us, a percentage of lead was added to the tin, which was soon banned because of its toxicity. The pewter used to make Numa objects is an alloy composed of 95% tin, and the complete absence of lead makes it fully compliant with the EEC standard EN-611/1.
Manufacturing stages:
- The first operation in the production cycle is the purchase of the raw material, in ingots or sheets of pewter ready to be melted, or the purchase of ingots or sheets of tin, wire or rods of copper and antimony, which, melted in the special melting furnace at a temperature of 250-300° C, yield pewter
- The molten metal is poured by hand with a ladle into rubber moulds. These moulds are mounted on centrifuges: machines that rotate the mould during the pouring and drying of the alloy.
- After the drying phase the operator extracts the product, which is then deburred with scissors and sanded.
- For the pieces that require it, manual assembly by tin soldering follows
- The pieces are then placed by hand in the vibrators, where they remain for about 2 hours. The vibration smooths the surface of the object by means of water and ceramic inserts (inert material).
- On leaving the vibrators the pieces are checked and, if necessary, straightened with rubber hammers. After this phase comes the final phase of hand polishing with brushes.
- Finally, each single piece is stamped with the designer’s signature, the Numa logo and its numbering.
N.B. All the stages of production are carried out by highly specialised craftsmen, at the atelier of the master pewterer Alfredo Marinoni, Cellatica (BS).
Specifications
| Weight | 6,5 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 32 × 32 × 10 cm |
| Collezione | Tavole |
| Design | Ettore Sottsass |
| Edizione Limitata | 99 pieces |
| Materiale | Cast pewter hand-finished with welding and brush-polishing operations. Blown Murano glass plate. |
Request information about this work
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Your enquiry concerns: Tavola Rotonda Acquamarina (ME9TLI/ROTO)