Mauro Manetti designed the vintage cabbage ice bucket, but there’s more to Mauro than meets the eye!

Manetti is a contemporary Italian artist with a unique style, a style that forces you to acknowledge there is something missing. His approach is not to offer conceptual art, but instead allow you to imagine the rest. Manetti hints and suggests with his designs, but leaves the ending to you!

A Cabbage Tchotchke

At first glance this cast aluminum sculpture is clearly designed in the shape of a cabbage. But what is the purpose of this heavy-weight vintage vegetable piece? Does it have a purpose, or is it simply a tchotchke? It wasn’t until we lifted the cabbage lid that the purpose became clear.

Silvered Cast Aluminum Cabbage Ice Bucket

From the outside, sculpted cast and silvered aluminum formed into a beautiful organic shape. On the inside, a plastic liner representing the scientific art of marrying form and function. This vintage piece is cleverly designed with an ice bucket/wine chiller snuggly tucked inside the artistically designed cabbage shape!

About the Cabbage Ice Bucket

The cabbage ice bucket is one of the more limited of Manetti’s, and is part of the Firenze Collection. It was only manufactured for a short period of time between 1965 and 1970. Heavy for its size, this piece weighs nearly 6 pounds and stands 9″ high with the actual bucket inside being 4.5″ deep. As you can see, the diameter is conveniently sized to fit a bottle of Prosecco or wine, allowing the bottle to keep its cool chill for much longer!

The Firenze Collection

Manetti successfully sculpted his creative vision and has taken it to another place. He has challenged us to see beyond what’s in front of us from both a spiritual and a scientific perspective. Often these two are considered a contradiction, yet Manetti has illustrated that the spiritual and scientific do not have to be exclusive. Through pieces like this cabbage ice bucket and others in the Firenze collection he has forced a more thoughtful approach, and shown that indeed the two can work together. Have you seen his pineapple ice buckets?

If you are looking for an investment in a vintage piece, this Baroque Revival ice bucket is a rare opportunity. It is a very limited Mauro Manetti collectible featuring a perfect combination of form and function where spiritual and scientific meet. See the maker’s mark of authenticity integrated right into the cast cabbage base, MM for Mauro Manetti and FIRENZE for the collection.

So what do you think? Will you be adding a little touch of the cabbage patch to your home?

Find the cabbage ice bucket wine chiller at Audrey Would! Vintage Home.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Photographs © Audrey Would! Vintage Home