Designer: Enzo Mari (b. 1932)

Item: Letter Openers

Manufactured by: Danese Milano

Country of origin: Italy

Year made: 1961, 1962 and 1985

Materials: Stainless steel

Dimensions: Ameland is 8 ½” long x ¾”, Bencecula is 13 ½” long x 1” x 2 ½” and Giglio is 11” long x 2 ½” x 1”, and the original packing boxes are 1” x  ¾” x 8 ½”, 1 ¼” x 4 ½” x 14 ¾” and 1 ¼” x 2 ½” x 11” respectively.

Condition: All are mint in original boxes, New Old Stock

Description: Here are three vintage Enzo Mari letter openers being sold as a set.  The Ameland is the most famous and ubiquitous design for a letter opener by Enzo Mari made for retail sale at the Museum of Modern Art’s (MOMA) book and gift store in 1962, and still being made today.  The Benbecula designed in 1961 is perhaps the hardest of these openers to find.  The Giglio has a round handle and was designed in 1985, and this example retains its paper insert and original MOMA label.  All are marked with the Danese Milano marks and dated, as shown.  Although Danese still manufactures these designs, these examples are vintage pieces, likely from the late 1980s.

Examples of these designs can be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum and other major museum design collections. 

References: Danese Milano, manufacturer's catalog, 1976, pg. 96 Enzo Mari: L'arte del Design, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Torino exhibition catalog, pg. 176.