Kazuhide Takahama "Gea" tall cabinet for Gavina, 1960s. Cream lacquered bent plywood, H 76.5 cm. Fair vintage condition.
Specifications:
- Designer: Kazuhide Takahama
- Manufacturer: Gavina
- Country/Period: Italy, 1960s
- Materials: Cream lacquered bent plywood
- Conditions: Fair vintage; visible signs of use, repairs carried out over time, slight discolouration, various veneer defects particularly to the rear of the base. Overall aspect remains pleasant and the piece is fully functional; conditions are common for this model and reflected in the price
- Dimensions: 76.5 × 45 × 45 cm (H × W × D)
Kazuhide Takahama met the Bolognese entrepreneur Dino Gavina in 1957, at the XI Triennale di Milano, where Takahama had travelled from Japan to oversee the installation of the Japanese pavilion. The encounter became a friendship and a working partnership that led Takahama to settle permanently in Bologna in 1963, joining Gavina as one of its principal designers. The furniture and lamps he produced for the company — the Gea, the Tulu chairs, the Saori lamps, the Mantilla sofa — are now among the most sought-after objects of Italian avant-garde design.
The Gea is among the most quietly radical of these designs. Two curved plywood panels interlock to form a cylindrical volume, creating shelves at two heights without any visible fixing — the construction logic is the structure. The vertical slot between the panels, which gives the piece its characteristic silhouette, also serves a practical function: a lamp cable placed on the upper shelf can run discreetly through the gap. Equally suited as a side table, nightstand or display unit.
This tall version is in cream lacquered bent plywood. Conditions are fair, with signs of use, some veneer defects and repairs accumulated over sixty years — consistent with what is commonly found on surviving Gea examples, which were always delicate objects. Priced accordingly.
