A house we carry
The “Smith” in the name belonged to Enzo Catellani's horse, Logan Smith. The founder has said it was a way of not putting everything under his own surname. The workshop has been making light fittings since 1989 in Villa di Serio, on the bank of the river Serio, in the province of Bergamo.
Fil de Fer is the piece most people recognise: aluminium wire twisted and woven by hand into a structure studded with tiny points of light. One installation entered the permanent collection of the Milan Triennale in 2006, and the model was shown at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010. Elsewhere in the catalogue are discs and half-spheres covered by hand in gold, silver or copper leaf, under names like Macchina della Luce, Stchu-Moon and Lederam. Because the leaf is laid unevenly, no two pieces throw exactly the same light.
The company refused to industrialise or move production abroad, and marks its pieces “Manifattura dal 1989”. The Lucenera lamp was shortlisted for the Compasso d'Oro in 2001. The founder's children, Giulia and Tobia, have since joined the business.
Artopia shows Catellani & Smith on Rue du Rhône. These lamps need to be seen lit: hand-applied gold behaves very differently depending on the angle and the hour.