Fornasetti ashtrayThough tobacco in all of its forms has been branded as a great “evil,” it’s hard to argue that generations of smokers didn’t spawn some decidedly beautiful accouterments. In “Sublime Tobacco,” the Italian design house Fornasetti is taking a look back at the ashtrays (above), table lighters, humidors, match holders and the like that it produced rather prolifically in the 1950s and 1960s. Piero Fornasetti designed 592 variations on the rectangular ashtray and 244 of the round variety, and exhibition, which his son Barnaba winkingly acknowledges is “totally politically incorrect,” showcases hundreds such tiny objects. And though not a smoker himself, Piero was inspired to emblazon one ashtray with the words: “Happy mortal he who knows pleasure which a pipe bestows.”
“Sublime Tobacco” runs through March 30th at the Spazio Fornasetti, Corso Matteotti, 1/A Milano. fornasetti.com
