Design: Ettore Sottsass & Perry A. King, 1969.
Manufactured by Ing. C. Olivetti & C. S.p.A., Ivrea, Italy.
Marked: valentine (above the keyboard), olivetti (on the incasement).
Measure: 4 5/8 x 13 1/2 x 13 7/8".

_{State: In very good condition, low age-related tracks. Working. Ink ribbbon must be exchanged, as the ink no longer so strong.}

Orangish-red ABS- plastic incasement, Shutter crescents of black rubber.
Metal chassis of the typewriter, Black plastic Keyboard, rear grip of red plastic.

Ettore Sottsass has a special place among the great designers of the twentieth century (born 1917 Innsbruck, died 2007 Milan).
His father Ettore Sot Sass sen. studied at the Akademie der bildenden Künste Vienna, under Otto Wagner and, 1928, moved to Turin with his family, where he became a protagonist in the architectural debate of the rationalism. 1947, Sottsass the younger began his career in the late 40s, also as an architect. There was little indication that one day he would work for such renowned companies as Poltronova, Allessi, Aredoluce, Artemide, Knoll, Vitra, Zanotta, Zumtobel und Siemens a.o. In the Late 50s he became famous almost overnight as a designer for Olivetti. As chief design consultant he created such successful products like the orangish-red “Valentine”. The typewriter received 1970 the highest award for industrial design in Italy, the „Compasso d’Oro“ (Golden Circle).

Sottsass' dual existence as an artist and an industrial designer, which was already quite pronounced in the 1960s, has remained a prominent feature of his life and work. Sottsass distanced himself from purely functional design that appealed largely to the design industry itself rather than to the ordinary person. When the radical design movement caught on Italy, he designed a number of provocative anti- bourgeois objects.
In the early 70s his furniture designs were featured in the legendary exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. In the same decade he co-founded the alternative design school Global Tool and, as a member of Studio Alchemia, became involved in the Anti-Design movement. In 1981 Sottsass co-founded the avant-garde Memphis design group.

A.o. in: Museum of Modern Art New York, Design Museum Collection London, Kunstgewerbemuseum and Werkbundarchiv - Museum der Dinge Berlin.
Lit. Charlotte  Peter Fiell: Industriedesign A-Z, Köln 2001, p.709. Mel Byars: The Design Encyclopedia, Museum of Modern Art New York 2003, p.698.

Priceref.: Von Zezschwitz, Munich, Auction 57, Los 53, 2009.
Wright Chicago, Auction 6.10.09 Modern Design, lot 488, result: $1,658.

Viewing by appointment. Location Berlin/Germany.