CLETO MUNARI
Italy, born 1930
Cleto Munari: The Alchemist of Forms - Creator and Editor
Cleto Munari (Italy, born 1930). A singular figure in contemporary design, Cleto Munari has established himself as one of those rare creators capable of transforming imagination into iconic objects. More than a designer, he is a catalyst: a free spirit who crosses disciplines, brings talents together, and gives life to works where boldness, irony, and poetry meet. His talent lies not only in his ability to conceive objects, but in his gift for creating dialogues - dialogues between materials, between tradition and experimentation, and above all, between creators.
Munari built his universe through collaborations with some of the most influential artists and architects of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Among them, Ettore Sottsass holds a central place. Their intellectual and aesthetic rapport, born in the 1970s, produced objects that have become emblematic. Sottsass - with his radical, geometric, and vibrant language - found in Munari a passionate interpreter. Together, they demonstrated that an object can transcend its function and become a visual and emotional experience, almost a narrative.
These successive collaborations - whether with Sottsass, Mimmo Paladino, Alessandro Mendini, Meret Oppenheim, and many others shaped the “Munari style”: a design that fully embraces its artistic dimension, claims the luxury of originality, and sees in every creation a fragment of culture.
This chapter of our catalogue pays homage to that collective spirit, to that vision in which design becomes a shared adventure. It celebrates Cleto Munari not only as a creator, but as the conductor of a plural imagination, capable of transforming a simple object into a work of contemporary art.
DISCOVER OUR SELECTION
REF SQ3335505
Brooch-pendant
Gold and silver plated brass geometric composition with black enamel
Weight 92.10 g
7.00 x 6.00 cm
1984
Edited by CLETO MUNARI
Prototype (certificate)
This rare and architectural brooch pendant is UNIQUE. It is a PROTOTYPE.
This model is part of a jewelry collection that Ettore Sottsass designed for Cleto Munari in the early 1980s.
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REF SQ3827317
“Rome & You”
Unique gilded silver ring
Circular in shape with architectural elements, signed and stamped.
45.1 g
Size 54
1984
Prototype (This ring has never been issued) - Certificate
Edited by CLETO MUNARI
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REF SQ4207486
“Decò”
Gilded silver ring
Circular in shape with geometric onyx elements
50.2 g
Size 57.5
1984
Prototype (certificate)
Edited by CLETO MUNARI
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REF SQ4860843
Ebony bracelet C Munari
18 ct gold and ebony
2018
Limited edition of 9
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REF SQ6874076
“Empire State Building”
Gilded sIlver ring
With a cylindrical element in rock crystal on a red background and spheres with brilliant-cut zirconia.
52.2 g
Size 57
2010
Prototype (certificate)
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REF SQ5446705
“Parco Giochi TRE”
Gilded sIlver ring with coral paste cylinders
34.8 g
Size 54
2010
Prototype (certificate)
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REF SQ8252474
“Vitruvio”
Gilded sIlver ring
Circular in shape with a Vitruvian Man on a lapis lazuli base, coral paste and brilliant-cut zirconia.
41.7 g
Size 54
2010
Prototype (certificate)
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REF SQ8346078
“Amore Nascosto”
Gilded silver ring
Cage with oval cabochon in rock crystal and written “LOVE” in red enamel
26.3 g
Size 56
2020
Prototype (certificate)
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REF SQ1873411
“Vogatori Piccolo”
Gilded silver ring
With five movable onyx spheres, signed and stamped.
34.2 g
SIze 58
2010
Prototype (certificate)
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REF SQ7682115
“Sonagli”
Gilded silver ring
Cylindrical in shape with movable ring
39.4 g
Size 58
2018
Signed and stamped
Prototype (certificate)
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REF SQ4788715
“Gelosia”
Gilded silver ring
With hands holding a oval cabochon-cut rock crystal on an engraved background
23.8 g
Size 53.5
2008
Prototype (certificate)
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TOO LATE
REF SQ6764331
18ct gold and diamonds ring (3,5 carats)
Limited edition of 6
Editions Cleto Munari,1983
Marked : Sottsass - 0750
PROTOTYPE - Sold with certificate
A copy is in the permanent collection of the Design Museum Den Bosch.
Published page 88 in Jewellery by architect. Ed Rizzoli.
REF SQ8266417
Rare, Impressive and sculptural ring designed by Italian architect and designer Ettore Sottsass.
A limited editions by Cleto Munari Editor. Artist Proof
1984
18ct gold - diagonal Onyx stripes - Diamonds brillant cut (2,8 carats)
Dimensions : L 3,7 cm - H 2,8 cm
Marked : Sottsass PA (Artist Proof)
Published in « Jewelry By Architects » Barbara Radice (Rizzoli, 1987) on page 88 and in « Cleto Munari, Dandy Design » E. Biffi Gentile, ed. Electa Napoli 1997 on page 152
REF SQ0535680
Cleto Munari - Limited edition of 5
1984
18ct gold and lapis lazuli ring
32,7 gr
Dim 5,3 x 3,5 cm
Size 55 (US 7) (adjustable)
Marked Cleto Munari - Sottsass - gold stamp
Published page 80 in Jewellery by architect. Ed Rizzoli.
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info@collectors-gallery.com
REF SQ1105630
Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007)
1997
Edited by Cleto Munari in limited edition of 19
18ct and coral
Diam : 5 cm
25,4 gr
Size 56
(Our workshop expertly customizes sizes)
Marked : Sottsass - Cleto Munari - 0750
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REF SQ1144001
18k yellow and white gold, amethyst ring with asymmetrical geometric and curvilinear designs. Named after the artist Valentina Aversano, Cleto Munari’s wife.
1984
Edition of 9
29,7 gr
4,8 x 4,2 cm
Marked : Sottsass - Cleto Munari - 0750
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info@collectors-gallery.com
REF SQ6770784
“Autunno”
Gilded silver bangle leaf-cage, snap-open
83.5 g
Internal diameter 6.00 cm
Length 6.00 cm
2012
Prototype (certificate)
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