The Model 522 is a circular dining table in rosewood designed by Gianfranco Frattini for Bernini in 1960. It is one of the most consistently recognised pieces of the Frattini-Bernini collaboration and one of the most documented Italian dining tables of the decade — appearing in auction records, museum references, and the official Gianfranco Frattini Archive.

Design and construction

The 522 is built around a sculptural base of four C-shaped bracket supports in solid rosewood, which extend from a central stem to carry the circular top. The bracket form — curved, cantilevered, structurally generous — is a recurring motif in Frattini’s furniture of this period: it appears in different configurations across several Bernini tables and storage pieces, functioning as both a structural solution and a visual signature.

The tabletop is veneered in exotic wood — Brazilian rosewood or Jacaranda depending on the production run — with a semi-gloss finish that allows the natural grain patterns of the timber to remain legible. The grain of Brazilian rosewood, with its broad, irregular figuring and warm tonal range from dark brown to deep red, makes each example of the 522 visually distinct. The diameter of documented examples ranges from approximately 120 to 130 cm — a size that seats six comfortably. Height is typically 71–74 cm.

Original examples carry the Bernini label underneath the top, confirming manufacture. The piece is catalogued and documented in the official Gianfranco Frattini Archive.

Context within the Serie Bernini

The Model 522 was designed in 1960, the same year as the Model 503/504 sideboard series and the Model 535 desk — a particularly productive moment in the Frattini-Bernini collaboration. All three pieces share a commitment to exotic wood worked with precision, to construction that prioritises the structural expression of the material, and to forms that hold their proportions without requiring decoration. The 522 is the most resolved of Frattini’s Bernini tables and the most frequently encountered on the secondary market.

The Model 522 is a circular dining table in rosewood designed by Gianfranco Frattini for Bernini in 1960. It is one of the most consistently recognised pieces of the Frattini-Bernini collaboration and one of the most documented Italian dining tables of the decade — appearing in auction records, museum references, and the official Gianfranco Frattini Archive.

Design and construction

The 522 is built around a sculptural base of four C-shaped bracket supports in solid rosewood, which extend from a central stem to carry the circular top. The bracket form — curved, cantilevered, structurally generous — is a recurring motif in Frattini’s furniture of this period: it appears in different configurations across several Bernini tables and storage pieces, functioning as both a structural solution and a visual signature.

The tabletop is veneered in exotic wood — Brazilian rosewood or Jacaranda depending on the production run — with a semi-gloss finish that allows the natural grain patterns of the timber to remain legible. The grain of Brazilian rosewood, with its broad, irregular figuring and warm tonal range from dark brown to deep red, makes each example of the 522 visually distinct. The diameter of documented examples ranges from approximately 120 to 130 cm — a size that seats six comfortably. Height is typically 71–74 cm.

Original examples carry the Bernini label underneath the top, confirming manufacture. The piece is catalogued and documented in the official Gianfranco Frattini Archive.

Context within the Serie Bernini

The Model 522 was designed in 1960, the same year as the Model 503/504 sideboard series and the Model 535 desk — a particularly productive moment in the Frattini-Bernini collaboration. All three pieces share a commitment to exotic wood worked with precision, to construction that prioritises the structural expression of the material, and to forms that hold their proportions without requiring decoration. The 522 is the most resolved of Frattini’s Bernini tables and the most frequently encountered on the secondary market.

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