Gaetano Pesce's UP Series: The Manifesto Chair and Its Imitations

In 1969, Gaetano Pesce designed a chair shaped like a female body tethered to a ball: the UP5&6, issued by C&B and later B&B Italia. "The image of a prisoner," he said — a manifesto on the condition of women, since turned icon. Imitations keep the roundness and lose all the rest.

A manifesto, not a pouffe

The mother-goddess and her captive ottoman form a work with a message, reissued in 2000 and then reworked (UP50, anniversary editions). To own an UP is to own that history — and it is the history the market pays for.

What the imitation betrays

The original is moulded from dense polyurethane foam with no internal structure, stretched with a striped or plain jersey and precise seams; the ball is joined by a sheathed cord. Imitations add rigid shells, soft foams that hold the imprint, and printed stripes that warp at the seams.

Prices

Expect several thousand euros for a new UP5&6 at B&B Italia; the first editions of 1969-1973, exceedingly rare (the period foam aged badly), belong to the auction rooms. Imitations at €800-1,500 sell a silhouette — the object itself is elsewhere.

Spotted a sculptural chair? Scan it on Beyit to know what you are looking at.