Whilst the Enzo Mari umbrella stand below is the epitome of understated style and function, the Trompe L’Oeil Umbrella Stands by Piero Fornasetti are an entirely different matter.
There is a range of interesting designs, which all have signs of Fornasetti’s trademark love of strong graphics and surrealism. His love of classical imagery is also apparent in the designs “Ancient Vases” (pictured here), “Ruins” and “Ancient Heads”. My favourite is the amusingly literal Umbrellas design. Other designs involve hats, cats and luggage.
Describing a quirky item as a “talking point” is probably an over-used expression, but in this case, it is true and frankly for the price of these, you would need it to be a real conversation piece. Prices start at $1244 (around £700) for classics designs up to $2,419 (over £1300) for Umbrellas. To view the whole collection, visit the Unica Home website.
