Cole And Son

A smaller scale version of the mural Nuvole, Nuvolette, is one of the most enduring Fornasetti designs. The sky was long a recurring vision for Fornasetti and these ‘little clouds’ are delicately detailed etchings depicting tempestuous, rolling skies.

 Available in other colours ways upon request. Other colours ways come as a 2 roll set. Please contact us for more details. 

The Procuratie facades of St Mark’s Square in Venice provide a primates’ playground for these mischievous monkeys, wrapped around the classical arches and ornate balustrades. Drawn in a simple intaglio style, the timeless soft palettes of Stone and Powder Blue, and Soot and Snow enhance the intricate line work without detracting from the design’s stunning scene.

Designed in the late 1940s for the entrance hall of Piero Fornasetti’s own house in Milan, The Mediterranea wallpaper delivers a hypnotic cityscape of roofs, gilded domes and gardens with a repeating pattern that stimulates the optical effect.

In a daytime version with buildings defined in black and gold on white or nocturnal in black and humid ginger with gold domes.

Filled with characterful New World charm, the wondrous fabled "flying machines" of Macchine Volanti evoke childhood fantasy and adventure. Explore the outer limits of your imagination in an array of hot air balloons, getting lost in the enveloping skyscape filled with man, machine and ethereal creatures.

• Width x Length (one full roll): 68.50 cm x 10.05 m
• Pattern Repeat: 76.20 cm
• Match: Half Drop between roll sets, Straight Match between A & B rolls

Inspired by the colourful and exuberant architecture of South Beach, Miami and the lush and tropical vegetation of the region, the Miami wallpaper depicts giddy layers of elegant tiled terraces, colonnades and pillars, interspersed with verdant palms and exotic flora.

Digitally printed, Miami is offered in two stunning colourings, the first made up of botanic greens, and limes, with accents of orange and teal, while the second presents a moodier twilight colouring of slates and greys with flashes of electric pink and golden yellow.

A classic of the Atelier’s portfolio, the sun occupies a privileged position in the Fornasetti repertoire of natural forms and is one of the major motifs in the Atelier's visual universe.

A predilection in part justified by the fact that for years in the early 1940s, at the request of Gio Ponti, Piero Fornasetti designed almanacs on a lunar theme to be given as Christmas gifts.

Created from an atmospheric etching of clouds, the subtle line work and delicate detail render Nuvole one of Fornasetti's most magnificent and beloved designs. With its billowing clouds rolling across a romantic sky, Cole & Son has updated this arresting study with a unique ombré, encompassing the colour and light of an ever-changing sky. Nuvole al Tramonto is available in two colourways, Dusk and Dawn. Whilst Dawn captures the first bright light of an early morning showing soft sage clouds rise into puffs of mint and duck-egg before diffusing into a hazy blue spring sky; Dusk captures the changeful evening sky where whirls of sunset pink clouds move through muted violet before diffusing into a summery soft blue.

Each roll of Nuvole al Tramonto contains four drops that form this enchanting skyscape, creating a total panel measuring 274cm wide and 300cm high. The panel can be used as a captivating feature across one wall or ceiling, or the design can be run side by side using multiple panels to create an immersive, bold interior.
Each panel can be trimmed from the top or bottom for the desired colour focus to suit any wall height.

Khulu, meaning ‘most important’, is particularly apt for this grand design featuring classical vases entwined with leopards, parrots, lions and other African animals. This fabulous watercoloured motif pays tribute to these modern day collectable vessels which can be found in galleries and private collections around the world.

Printed to an impressive 68.5cm repeat, the design is offered in various colourways including soft pinks and oranges on pale cream, a host of China blues on ivory, vivid greens and charcoal on ivory and finally a dramatic petrol and emerald on midnight blue.

A bold geometric Topiary is the epitome of stately opulence, with fanciful designs of knots and labyrinths creating these beautifully ornate spaces.

In contrast to these manicured masterpieces, the Cole & Son design studio have created a softer watercolour approach, encapsulating the gentle breeze enjoyed whilst discovering these vast tapestries of colour and shape.

In soft watercoloured tones of Leaf Green, Soot, and China Blue, Topiary is a design in which your imagination can wander into the world of Parterre’s past.

Piero Fornasetti had a deep love and admiration for music and theatre finding a wealth of inspiration from the Italian Commedia dell’arte. From this came the delightful Teatro. As charming today as it was then, Teatro was conceptualised in the 1950s. The scene is enthralling with intricate line work depicting elegant theatre goers. Delicate recolourings play towards the design’s theatrical inspiration alongside timeless Fornasetti palettes.

The first of two architectural designs, Procuratie, which takes its name from the well known building facades of St Marks Square in Venice, is composed of two rows of classical arches drawn in a simple intaglio style.

Procuratie repeats at 68.5cm wide and is sold on a 10 metre roll. 

Originating as a silk scarf print from the 1940s, the ‘canes’ of Bastoni reflect the eclectic nature of the house of Fornasetti, brimming with umbrella and hat stands full of antique walking canes.

The graphic checkerboard style of the repeat is reminiscent of many Fornasetti favourites, resulting in a striking and bold motif. Bastoni is printed with a gravure four-colour process, to ensure all details remain sharp, with flecks of tonal metallic detail added in a luxurious gold.

Choose from three classic colourways of Cream, Racing Car Green, and Charcoal.

The intricate curves and ripples of semi-precious stones and fossils appear throughout Fornasetti's work, with the hypnotic curves becoming synonymous with the Fornasetti canon.

The iconic Malachite is presented in unique luminous mineral shades as well as the arresting, Fornasetti classics for a captivating interior option.

The design of Ardmore Cameos is a very personal representation of a series of plates which were created originally as a wedding gift for a friend of Ardmore. With each animal portrait, including a rather haughty zebra and a quizzical leopard, set against a backdrop of softly drawn giraffe spots, this delightful cartouche wallpaper is offered in colourings of soft olive, grey, pale khaki and a striking black and white.

Derived from an ice bucket design entitled ‘Oggetti Cocktail’ created by Piero Fornasetti in the 1950s, Cocktails showcases the maestro’s fascination with repeated studies of the same subject in order to create multiple variations upon the same theme.

Its stylized mid-century graphic bottles and glassware were created in a vibrant Multi colour palette, true to the original sketches, which is complemented by a softer Pastel palette and the monochromatic Soot and Snow

he Rainforest Squiggle is an abstract and free flowing interpretation of the iconic Squiggle print – first seen in Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s debut catwalk collection Pirate in 1981. The Rainforest Squiggle, featured in Cole & Son x Vivienne Westwood, was first presented in the Autumn-Winter 2014/15 Gold Label Save the Rainforest runway collection. Vivienne and Andreas referenced master couturier Charles Frederick Worth, combined with influences from the Asháninka, a Peruvian tribe living in the rainforests which they visited in 2013 with Cool Earth. The runway show itself represented the fight for the environment – namely, to save the Asháninka’s rainforest by 2020.

Cole & Son’s artists took the graphic layout of the Rainforest Squiggle motif and saw the chance to infuse the design with an element of hand-craft by painting it in one continuous duo-toned brushstroke. The result is a simple yet bold contemporary wall mural that exudes a vibrant energy. The meandering layout allows the eye to travel throughout the composition in an unending loop where the journey of the artist’s hand is never broken.

Colourings include bright palettes of Crimson & Lipstick on Parchment and Navy & Cerulean on Stone with monochromatic Charcoal & Soot on Cream, White & Grey on Charcoal, and Soft Grey & Dove on Chalk. A stately Rouge & Burgundy on Soft Blue completes the selection.

First used by Vivienne Westwood as a gesture to the house’s affinity with Scotland, Soft Thistle features an abstracted representation of the regal milk thistle. The angular edges are softened with muted colours, with the motif appearing in the Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood Spring-Summer 2023 Sous le ciel de Paris collection.

Whilst the oversized scale of the design brings a strong graphic quality to the wallpaper, designers at Cole & Son worked to soften the pattern subtly for the walls by combining it with a hand-painted, cross-hatched texture that simulates the distressed fabric treatments frequently employed by the house.

Colourings for Soft Thistle range from the muted Rose Quartz & Gold and Dove Grey & Charcoal to the bright and bold Ginger & Mocha and Blood Orange & Viridian.

The V Love A print was hand-painted personally by Vivienne and first featured in the Autumn-Winter 2022/23 Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood La Nouvelle Eve collection. The painting was inspired by an art book Vivienne was enjoying at the time of naïve 18th-century Italian paintings, featuring countrymen in the mountains. The collection was an elegant tribute to the world of theatre and art, reflected across prints and through silhouette – presented in the historic Belle Époque La Nouvelle Eve revue theatre in Montmartre, Paris.

For translation into wallpaper the Cole & Son studio worked to keep the artwork and hand of Vivienne as faithful as possible to the original, with a tile-like repeat. Offered in three colourways – one, Night Sky, honouring the exact palette of the original artwork, alongside more muted palettes of Moss & Thistle and Mint & Tangerine

Vivienne Love Andreas derives its name from the hidden graffiti-like scrawl Vivienne embedded within the design and represents the unique opportunity to decorate your walls with an original artwork an original fashion innovator which tells the tale of a long-standing love story and creative partnership.

A flight beyond the limits of the imagination lead Fornasetti to an enchanted, hypnotic Jerusalem.

Multiple points of view overlap, with different architectural styles chasing each other in a continuous pattern.

Vista Mediterranea is sold per panel set; each roll contains one panel set (2 drops of 70cm). When unrolling the wide-width paper there will be a clear indication of where each drop should be cut to create the two drops of the design.

• Panel Dimensions: 140 cm x 3.5 m
• Width x Length (one full roll): 70 cm x 7 m

The inspiration of this print is ‘Sole di Capri’ a design created by Piero Fornasetti in the 50s. Piero Fornasetti long had a passion for Capri and created this iconic design from his imagination, before ever having visited the legendary island. Piero eventually took the family there on holiday and, during the 1960s, also opened a temporary Fornasetti boutique on the island.

The original print is a combination of personified suns and stylized architecture, both typical of Fornasetti. The idea of pairing personified suns and clouds appears for the first time in a sketch for a headscarf that Piero drew in 1950. It is now a whimsical all-over print, bringing a unique quirk to an interior.

Every single image is a source of inspiration, a starting point that may lead to infinite variations. This is the very principle on which most of Piero Fornasetti’s work relies. Fruit has prominently sat amongst his themes and designs since the 1940s and are present on many atelier items.

Fornasetti used shells to cover the walls of his Lake Como villa dining room, as a mid-century interpretation of a sixteenth-century grotto. The room also featured a delicate shell ceiling lamp made by Giulia, Piero’s wife.

Piero Fornasetti was the consummate collector with a plethora of cameos certainly forming part of his vast collection of curiosities. The Cammei theme is dear to Fornasetti and is an homage to Classicism.

Piero Fornasetti first used this motif in 1954 for the decoration of his ‘Geometrico’ screen. Variations on the chessboard theme and perceptual illusions play with the contrast between black and white.

A foray into abstract, minimal, contemporary art, without sacrificing the eccentric Fornasetti spirit.

Stemming from the original ‘Ortensie’ design, Barnaba Fornasetti created a dense bouquet of petals with bees that at first covered a scarf and furniture of the Atelier. This bounteous floral print is full of life, drawing you into the garden and filling your thoughts with the sweet smells and sounds of summer. Soft pastels are reminiscent of organic Ortensia hues, whilst a simple monochrome accentuates the delicately detailed linework of this expansive design.

Taking its name from the Chateau de Villandry which houses one of the grandest gardens in France, Villandry's design is printed in a classic Toile de Jouy style featuring a pastoral landscape of parkland, waterways and follies in traditional colourways of red, soft charcoal, cobalt blue, and dove grey.

The grand baroque-style extension of Hampton Court Palace was commissioned by William III and Mary II towards the end of the 17th century to rival the great palaces of Europe.

Opulence was at the heart of baroque design, with mirrors being a great luxury and a symbol of extreme wealth.

King’s Argent is a reflection of this extravagant addition to the palace, a detailed series of silvered mirrored tiles covered in shadowy leaves and flower heads, its delicate etchings adding to the stately grandeur of Hampton Court’s ceremonial rooms.

The amusing companion to Procuratie features two monkeys wandering amongst pillars and arches. Offered in the four directly matching colours of Procuratie, the monkeys are picked out in coordinating shades. 

This design also repeats at 68.5cm wide and is sold on a 10 metre roll. 

Libreria expands upon one of the most iconic Fornasetti motifs of leather-bound tomes with the addition of the collector’s ‘library’ of Objets d’art and glassware adorning its shelves.

The jewel-like Rich Multi palette of emerald, sapphire and ruby creates a dazzling feast for the eyes, with subtle metallic gold highlights on book spines, glassware detailing, and each golden ornament for a rich and decadent wallcovering.

An avid collector of literature volumes on the applied arts, Fornasetti used books as a recurring theme which can be found throughout the Atelier’s archive. This library Trompe l’oeil scene, abundant in leather-bound books, is adapted from a 1953 screen. Reintroduced for Senza Tempo, classic Fornasetti palettes.