Gilt Metal Owl Ice Bucket by Mauro Mainetti, Italian Work, circa 1970

This gilt metal owl ice bucket is an emblematic creation of Mauro Mainetti, an Italian artist and designer whose gilt metal animal decorative objects enjoyed considerable success in international design circles of the 1970s. A specialist in tableware and art de vivre objects in gilt or silvered metal, Mainetti created a series of animal-shaped accessories — owls, foxes, ducks — that rapidly became coveted collector's pieces among the international jet-set, from grand hotels to villas on the Côte d'Azur.

The owl, a symbol of wisdom, clairvoyance and nocturnal elegance in Western iconographic tradition, is here interpreted with remarkable virtuosity. The gilding, of exceptional quality as evidenced by its intact lustre after more than fifty years, covers the entire sculpted form with a precision and homogeneity that reveal the expertise of Italian workshops specialising in precious metalwork. The lid, which opens to reveal the interior of the ice bucket, is treated with the same care as the exterior.

Both a functional and sculptural object, this Mauro Mainetti owl ice bucket embodies the creative and hedonistic spirit of the 1970s, a period when the art of entertaining reached new heights of inventiveness and refinement. A rare and highly sought-after piece among collectors of twentieth-century Italian decorative arts, it constitutes an exceptional acquisition for any lover of objects that are simultaneously beautiful and joyfully useful.