Following his introduction to the Italian architect Carlo Scarpa in 1972, the Italian industrialist and designer Cleto Munari began commissioning internationally renowned architects and designers to create beautiful and functional objects for his personal collection. However, after exhibiting his collection of luxury design objects in numerous European galleries and museums, he decided to produce the designs in limited editions that were handmade by craftsmen in Vincenza, Italy. The Cleto Munari silver collection includes works by many preeminent architects of the twentieth century, including Mario Botta, Josef Hoffmann, Hans Hollein, and Ettore Sottsass.¹

The only female contributor to the Cleto Munari silver collection was the Italian architect Gae Aulenti. Her sterling silver modernist Tea and Coffee Service juxtaposes the smooth lines of the cylinders with the sharp angularity of the spouts and wooden handles. The set is accompanied by a long, narrow tray that prescribes the locations for each piece with corresponding cutouts. This orderly composition reflects Aulenti’s approach toward architecture in that it privileges rational structure over aesthetics.² The architectural character of this design also reflects Aulenti’s aim to create objects that appear as “buildings on a skyline and reminds the viewer of the interaction between objects of design and architectural space.”³ After graduating with a degree in architecture from the Politecnico di Milano in 1954, Aulenti would go on to become one of the most famed Italian architects of the later twentieth century. A pioneering architect and designer, she broke through gender barriers within these predominantly male professions to become the first woman to receive several important honors and awards, including the grand prize at the Milan Triennale (1964) and the Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur from the French government (1987). —Sarah Marie Horne