Gae Aulenti's Pipistrello: history, versions and market value
The Pipistrello was designed by Gae Aulenti in 1965 to light the Olivetti showrooms in Paris, and it has been produced ever since by Martinelli Luce in Lucca. It pairs a telescopic stand in lacquered steel with an opal methacrylate diffuser whose silhouette recalls the wings of the bat that gives it its name. Production has never stopped in sixty years, which makes it hard to date for anyone who does not know its signs.
Origins: Olivetti, Paris, 1965
In 1964 Olivetti asked Gae Aulenti, then a young Milanese architect trained at the Politecnico, to fit out its Paris showroom on the rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré. Aulenti designed bespoke lighting: a lamp with a telescopic stand that could follow the varying height of the counters and throw indirect light upwards. The first Pipistrello left the Martinelli Luce workshops in 1965. It soon joined the catalogue and was sold across Italy, then Europe.
Aulenti used it again in several of her own interiors. In her lifetime, the Pipistrello became the piece most associated with her name, ahead of the table with wheels for Fontana Arte or her work on the Musée d'Orsay.
The versions: sizes and finishes
The Pipistrello range is organised around four variants.
Pipistrello (height 66 to 86 cm, telescopic)
This is the historic 1965 model, whose telescopic stand adjusts between 66 and 86 cm in height, on a lacquered cast aluminium base. It is the most produced version, the most sought after, and the one whose prices are easiest to read.
Pipistrello Mini (fixed height 35 cm)
Introduced much later, the Mini keeps the silhouette without the telescopic system. It is a contemporary piece, not vintage in the strict sense.
Pipistrello Medio (not telescopic)
An intermediate version, less widely sold, and rare on the second-hand market.
Colour editions
Over sixty years, the Pipistrello base has come in several colours:
- White and black, the historic colours, never interrupted.
- Orange, green, red, bronze: shorter runs, including limited editions from the 2000s to the 2020s.
- Chrome: a 50th anniversary special edition (2015), produced as a numbered run.
How to date a Pipistrello
Continuous production makes dating delicate, but several clues taken together place a lamp to within a decade.
The base and its marking
- 1965-1975 production: a fairly heavy cast aluminium base, brush-applied lacquer with fine marks, Martinelli Luce stamp engraved or painted.
- 1980-2000 production: more industrial manufacture, with an adhesive label added.
- After 2000: laser marking, standardised product codes, often a serial number on special editions.
The diffuser
Opal methacrylate yellows slightly over time. A Pipistrello said to date from 1970 with a perfectly white diffuser has probably had its diffuser replaced. That is common and acceptable, but the price should reflect it.
The electrics
Lamps made before 1990 have sockets and wiring that met the standards of their time. New wiring on an old base indicates rewiring to current standards: not a flaw, simply a fact worth knowing.
Prices seen in 2026
Based on recent sales by dealers and at auction (Artcurial, Piasa, Wright in Chicago), prices fall roughly within the following ranges. These are observed orders of magnitude, not guaranteed valuations:
- Pipistrello 86 cm, white or black, 1970s, good condition: 1,800 to 2,800 euros.
- Pipistrello 86 cm in a rarer colour: 2,500 to 4,500 euros.
- Chrome Pipistrello from the numbered 50th anniversary edition: 3,500 to 5,500 euros.
- Recent Pipistrello Mini, second-hand: 400 to 700 euros.
- New 86 cm Pipistrello from Martinelli Luce: around 1,200 euros in a standard colour.
These figures vary with the condition of the diffuser, whether the base is original and whether there is documented provenance.
A sensible first purchase
The Pipistrello is not a rare piece. It owes its place to the rightness of its proportions and to production that has never stopped. For a first purchase in vintage Italian design, it is a straightforward choice: prices are easy to read, there are few points to check and copies are less common than for other classics.
FAQ
Do counterfeit Pipistrellos exist? Yes, but they are less common than for other Italian classics. The most reliable checkpoint remains the Martinelli Luce marking under the base.
Can the diffuser of an older Pipistrello be replaced? Yes, Martinelli Luce sells diffusers as spare parts. The lamp remains authentic, but to a collector it is no longer entirely original.
Is the LED Pipistrello vintage? No. The LED version is a recent development, practical in use, with no particular interest for a collector.
Which colour editions are the most sought after? The rare colours and the chrome 50th anniversary edition (2015).
Did Gae Aulenti design other important lights? Yes, notably the Giova for Fontana Arte (1964) and the King Sun for Kartell (1967), but the Pipistrello remains the piece most associated with her name.
Further reading
By
LAPIERRE MARKET
