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Gio Ponti Furniture

Italian, 1891-1979

An architect, furniture and industrial designer and editor, Gio Ponti was arguably the most influential figure in 20th-century Italian modernism.

Ponti designed thousands of furnishings and products — from cabinets, mirrors and chairs to ceramics and coffeemakers — and his buildings, including the brawny Pirelli Tower (1956) in his native Milan, and the castle-like Denver Art Museum (1971), were erected in 14 countries. Through Domus, the magazine he founded in 1928, Ponti brought attention to virtually every significant movement and creator in the spheres of modern art and design.

The questing intelligence Ponti brought to Domus is reflected in his work: as protean as he was prolific, Ponti’s style can’t be pegged to a specific genre.

In the 1920s, as artistic director for the Tuscan porcelain maker Richard Ginori, he fused old and new; his ceramic forms were modern, but decorated with motifs from Roman antiquity. In pre-war Italy, modernist design was encouraged, and after the conflict, Ponti — along with designers such as Carlo Mollino, Franco Albini, Marco Zanuso — found a receptive audience for their novel, idiosyncratic work. Ponti’s typical furniture forms from the period, such as the wedge-shaped Distex chair, are simple, gently angular, and colorful; equally elegant and functional. In the 1960s and ’70s, Ponti’s style evolved again as he explored biomorphic shapes, and embraced the expressive, experimental designs of Ettore Sottsass Jr., Joe Colombo and others.

Ponti's signature furniture piece — the one by which he is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Germany’s Vitra Design Museum and elsewhere — is the sleek Superleggera chair, produced by Cassina starting in 1957. (The name translates as “superlightweight” — advertisements featured a model lifting it with one finger.)

Ponti had a playful side, best shown in a collaboration he began in the late 1940s with the graphic artist Piero Fornasetti. Ponti furnishings were decorated with bright finishes and Fornasetti's whimsical lithographic transfer prints of things such as butterflies, birds or flowers; the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts possesses a 1950 secretary from their Architetturra series, which feature case pieces covered in images of building interiors and facades. The grandest project Ponti and Fornasetti undertook, however, lies on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean: the interiors of the luxury liner Andrea Doria, which sank in 1956.

Widely praised retrospectives at the Queens Museum of Art in 2001 and at the Design Museum London in 2002 sparked a renewed interest in Ponti among modern design aficionados. (Marco Romanelli’s monograph, which was written for the London show, offers a fine overview of Ponti’s work.) Today, a wide array of Ponti’s designs are snapped up by savvy collectors who want to give their homes a touch of Italian panache and effortless chic.

Find a range of vintage Gio Ponti desks, dining chairs, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.

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Period: 1990s
Creator: Gio Ponti
Gio Ponti for Venini Old Lady Bottle Model 4492
By Gio Ponti, Venini
Located in New York, NY
Gio Ponti for Venini "Old Lady Bottle" with stopper model 4492, Italy, 1990. This lovely bottle has the shape of a female made in glass with two colo...
Category

1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture

Materials

Blown Glass

Gio Ponti for Venini Murano Italian "Morandiane" Blue Green Glass Bottle, 1995
By Gio Ponti
Located in Reggio Emilia, IT
"Morandiane" glass bottle serie designed by italian artist Gio Ponti for Venini Murano, Blown glass with two-tone incalmo decoration, Manufacturer’s sticker and engraved signature ...
Category

1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture

Materials

Murano Glass

Gio Ponti Set of Two Decorative Bottles in Ceramic by Cooperativa Ceramica Imola
By Gio Ponti
Located in Montecatini Terme, IT
Set of two decorative blue bottles in ceramic with gold lusters decorations (realized by Bottega Gatti in Faenza) from the Bottiglie Abitate series which is designed by Gio Ponti in the 1950s and manufactured during the 1990s by Cooperativa Ceramica Imola. The manufacturer's brand and signature are visible under the bases. Dimensions: A buttoned bottle H36 cm A decorated bottle H30 cm Gio Ponti was an icon of the modernist movement: the Italian designer, architect, artist and publisher contributed significantly to the worlds of architecture and design with his extensive work in fine furniture and ceramics, education, office and residential buildings, and everything in between. Giovanni, known as Gio Ponti was born in 1891 in Milan. It was there that he spent his childhood, and in 1921 he began to study architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. From 1923 to 1930 he served as the artistic director of the Richard-Ginori porcelain factory. In 1927, Ponti started his first architectural office, together with Emilio Lancia, and in 1928 he started the magazine Domus, which is still regarded as one of the most influential European magazines for architecture and design. He was also very influential during the period as a curator of the Milan Triennale. After his collaboration with Emilio Lancia had come to an end, upon completion of the Torre Rasini, he began to work as an architect together with the engineers Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini...
Category

1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture

Materials

Ceramic, Luster

Gio Ponti Gabriella Folding Lounge Chair in Black Vynil by Pallucco, 1991, Italy
By Gio Ponti, Pallucco
Located in Montecatini Terme, IT
Gabriella folding lounge chair with a steel frame, seat, and back upholstered in black vinyl or Naugahyde. This iconic chair was designed by the Italian designer Gio Ponti and rele...
Category

1990s Italian Post-Modern Gio Ponti Furniture

Materials

Steel

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Gio Ponti for Richard Ginori Le Mie Donne Plate 1937
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Gio Ponti for Richard Ginori Le Mie Donne in gold on scalloped edge white porcelain plate. marked and numbered on bottom. Le Mie Donne is the first family of decorations designed by Giò Ponti. Ponti made important alterations to the Le Mie Donne series over the years, having the designs applied to piattelle (wall plates) and large and small jar-shaped and oval vases. With the aim of proposing a style that would suit Parisian tastes, on the occasion of the Exposition Nationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris in 1925, Ponti tried to blend the revival of classicism with Art Deco. The Le Mie Donne series consists of three compositions: Women on clouds, Women among ropes and Women on flowers. The women on clouds were the first of these to be designed and presented in the form of samples at the exhibition in Monza in 1923. The designs for this series are composed of sketches of buildings...
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Paolo Venini Inciso Glass Bottle Manufactured by Venini 1990s
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Gio Ponti Teacups and Saucers for Ginori, Il Circo
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Gio Ponti Gabriella Chair
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H 42.13 in W 23.23 in D 24.02 in
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Previously Available Items
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Gio Ponti Gabriela chair for Pallucco Italy
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Located in New York, NY
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Paper

Gio Ponti Monograph
Gio Ponti Monograph
H 11.5 in W 10 in D 1.25 in
Fontana Arte Hand Mirror by Italian Architect Gio Ponti
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Located in Chicago, IL
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Very Rare Triposto Bench by Gio Ponti
By Gio Ponti
Located in Munich, DE
Made by Tecno in a limited edition in 1991, based on a prototype from 1967. Can be used with or without the loose cabinet.
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Very Rare Triposto Bench by Gio Ponti
Very Rare Triposto Bench by Gio Ponti
H 25.6 in W 48.04 in D 48.04 in
"Gio Ponti, The Complete Work 1923-1978 – Lisa Licitra Ponti, " 1990 Book
By Gio Ponti
Located in London, GB
First edition, published by Thames and Hudson, 1990. The Complete Work 1923–1978. This beautiful publication documents the incredibly vast and productive career of the Italian ...
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Gio Ponti furniture for sale on 1stDibs.

Gio Ponti furniture are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of wood and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Gio Ponti furniture, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 567 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 129 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original furniture by Gio Ponti were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider furniture by Afra & Tobia Scarpa, Mario Bellini, and Osvaldo Borsani. Prices for Gio Ponti furniture can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $83 and can go as high as $88,000, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $7,193.

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