Super rare elegant lounge chair and ottoman set from a hand crafted edition of just two sets that were designed by Franco Campo in 1960 for his family and a close friend ,the lounge chair and ottoman are both finished in their original buttoned faux leather upholstery , all the rage in 1960 , with wonderful hand crafted ,minimalist style, heavy solid steel legs finished in nickel plate.

PROVENANCE:
Only two examples of this wonderful lounge chair and ottoman were ever produced . The set we offer was purchased direct from Franco Campo's nephew , Paolo Bonsignore and comes with a hand signed certificate of authenticity from Susannah Campo (Franco's daughter and Paolo's cousin ) who runs the Franco Campo archive and has confirmed all these details. Franco Campo gave one set to the Bonsignore family, this set, and the other set to his best friend so this is really a unique opportunity matched with impeccable provenance.

The very heavy hand crafted nickel steel elements have hand stamped numbers on them to identify them to make sure the individual steel elements are matched to their correct relative counterparts during assembly for the best fit, a sure sign of high quality artisan craftmanship

DIMENSIONS:

Lounge chair :
34.64" wide X 32.5 " deep X 39.4 " high ; seating height 16.5"
88 cm wide x 82.5 cm deep X 100 cm high ; seating height 42 cm

Ottoman :
23.8 " wide X 23.6" deep X 17.3" high
60.5 cm wide x 60 cm deep x 44 cm high

Franco Campo both studied under , was an apprentice to and collaborated with Carlo Mollino on several designs before forming the design company 'HOME' with fellow Mollino apprentice Carlo Graffi.

Franco Campo and his partner Carlo Graffi studied at the polytechnic of Milano under the stewardship of maestro Carlo Mollino. Upon graduating in 1950 they developed a strong rapport with Mollino and became close friends, collaborating closely with Mollino on many of his architectural , interior design and furniture projects in addition to working alongside Mollino on his designs for several pavillions for design fairs and exhibition spaces. Franco Campo in particular quickly became Mollino's primary assistant at Turin polytechnic.

When Campo & Graffi decided to branch out on their own Mollino's influence was clear to all, often resulting in beautiful organic biomorphic forms that Mollino himself would have been proud of, they even used Mollino's preferred carpenter 'Apelli,Varesio to excecute their beautiful designs.

During this early period they were mainly designing furniture and interiors for exclusive very high end furniture companies and exclusive private clients . In 1956 the pair decided that they wanted the general public to also have access to good quality design with a high aesthetic quality and decided to open their own factory and brand , 'Home' , with this intention. Their designs for 'Home' more often than not were finished in teak wood with restrained black stove enameled structures reflecting their great admiration for the aesthetic purity of Scandinavian industrial design which also matched their intentions. 'Home' opened three prestigious stores in Italy, Turin,Genoa and Rome, where they also sold other high quality italian design by Arflex,Tecno and Poggi alongside their own designs.

Sadly their utopian vision of quality design with a high aesthetic value, available for all, came to an abrupt end in 1964 when the 'Home' Factory burnt down bringing to an end the collaboration of these two enigmatic designers. Carlo Graffi returned to work alongside Mollino while Franco Campo continued on producing his own designs, several of which today are regarded as design classics of the highest order.

CONDITION : Due to the extreme rarity of these items we have decided to keep the original faux leather upholstery so the item can be of interest to serious collectors and museums.

The original leatherette upholstery is worn through in several areas such as the edges of the armrests and corners of the ottoman commensurate with originality age and use. There is a button cover missing on the lounge chair and there are some surface scratches to the some areas of the leatherette. The nickel plating is in nice decent condition overall with small areas of loss or spotting, please refer to the photos. These are really nice honest original examples that could easily be restored should the buyer wish to do so and please remember these are one of only two sets in existence !