Venini bottle from the Morandiane series
About the Item
- Creator:Paolo Venini (Manufacturer),Gio Ponti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 19.69 in (50 cm)Diameter: 3.55 in (9 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:1980-1989
- Date of Manufacture:1988
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Torino, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU9356136793992
Gio Ponti
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.
Paolo Venini
While Venini & Co.'s co-founder, Paolo Venini (1895–1959), was himself a highly talented glassware designer, his true genius was to invite forward-thinking Italian and international designers to Murano’s hallowed workshops to create Venini pieces — among them Gio Ponti, Massimo Vignelli, Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala, Thomas Stearns of the United States and Fulvio Bianconi.
Beginning in the 1930s — and throughout the postwar years especially — Venini & Co. played a leading role in the revival of Italy’s high-end glass industry, pairing innovative modernist designers with the skilled artisans who created extraordinary chandeliers, sconces and other lighting in the centuries-old glass workshops on the Venetian island of Murano.
Paolo Venini trained and practiced as a lawyer for a time, though his family had been involved with glassmaking for generations. After initially buying a share in a Venetian glass firm — he and antiques dealer Giacomo Cappellin established Vetri Soffiati Cappellin Venini & C. in 1921 — Venini took over the company as his own in 1925, and under his direction, it produced mainly classical Baroque designs.
In 1932, Venini hired the young Carlo Scarpa— who would later distinguish himself as an architect — as his lead designer. Scarpa, working in concert with practiced glass artisans, completely modernized Venini, introducing simple, pared-down forms; bright primary colors; and bold patterns such as stripes, banding and abstract compositions that utilized cross sections of murrine (glass rods).
Paolo Venini’s best designs are thought to be his two-color Clessidre hourglasses, produced from 1957 onward, and the Fazzoletto (“handkerchief”) vase, designed with Bianconi in 1949. Bianconi’s masterworks are considered by many to be his Pezzato works — colorful vases with patterns that resemble those of a patchwork quilt.
Other noteworthy and highly collectible vintage Venini works include Ponti’s dual-tone stoppered bottles (circa 1948); rare glass sculptures from the Doge series by Stearns, the first American to design for the firm; Vignelli’s striped lanterns of the 1960s; the Occhi vases with eyelet-shaped patterns by Tobia Scarpa (son of Carlo); and, with their almost zen purity, the Bolle (“bubbles”) bottles designed by Wirkkala in 1968.
With these works — and many others by some of the creative titans of the 20th and 21st centuries — Venini has produced one of the truly great bodies of work in modern design.
Find antique and vintage Paolo Venini chandeliers, serveware, table lamps, decorative objects and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Torino, Italy
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
- Vase from the Cinesi series by Tobia Scarpa for VeniniBy Tobia Scarpa, VeniniLocated in Torino, ITVase from the Chinese series designed by Tobia Scarpa for Venini. Elegant vase with lid made of white etched glass. The Cinesi series was' designed by Carlo Scarpa in the 1940s, hi...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Vases
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Opaline and Sapphire-colored glass vase by Paolo Venini for VeniniBy Paolo Venini, VeniniLocated in Torino, ITOpaline glass vase model 706.22 from the Venini glassworks. Refined vase designed by Paolo Venini in 1932. The elegance of opaline glass comes from overlaying colored glass with la...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Vases
MaterialsMilk Glass, Stained Glass
- Vase - Ashtray from the Byzantine series by A.VE.M.By A.VE.MLocated in Torino, ITAshtray from the Byzantine series made by the A.VE.M. glassworks. The Byzantine series called ALL FRUITS by collectors was made by A.VE.M. in the 1950s. These works are all one-of-...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Vases
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Chambord bottle by Alessandro Menidini for Venini 1992By Alessandro Mendini, VeniniLocated in Torino, ITChambord bottle designed by Alessandro Mendini for Venini. Rare spherical-shaped blown glass bottle with verdemare murrine and sapphire decoration with black glass neck and truncate...Category
1990s Italian Bottles
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Large collectible Lalique glass bottle of the perfume L'air du tempsBy LaliqueLocated in Torino, ITLarge collectible bottle made by French glassmaker Lalique. Bottle that contained the perfume "L'air du Temps" launched on the market in 1949 by the fashion house Nina Ricci. Creat...Category
Vintage 1940s French Bottles
MaterialsGlass
- Blown glass bottle by Carlo MorettiBy Carlo MorettiLocated in Torino, ITMurano glass bottle by master Carlo Moretti. Carlo Moretti founded his eponymous glassworks in 1958 in Murano with his brother Giovanni. Throughout its history Moretti Glassworks h...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Bottles
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Gio Ponti Paolo Venini Murano Glass Bottle Morandiana Series 1982By Paolo Venini, Gio PontiLocated in Paris, IDFRare Gio Ponti and Paolo Venini bottle for Venini designed in the 1950s, “ A Canne” model from the Morandiana series. This example is a 1980s edition, signed Venini 82, with its orig...Category
Vintage 1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bottles
MaterialsGlass
- Gio Ponti for Venini Murano Italian "Morandiane" Blue Green Glass Bottle, 1995By Gio PontiLocated 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 Glass
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Paolo Venini Engraved Murano Glass Bottle from 2004By Paolo VeniniLocated in Milano, MIRed Murano glass bottle, belonging to the 'Bottiglie Incise' collection designed and created by Paolo Venini in 2004 Ø 9 cm h 26 cmCategory
Early 2000s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bottles
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Gio Ponti Venini Murano Glass Bottle Morandiana Series 1960sBy Venini, Gio PontiLocated in Paris, IDFRare Gio Ponti bottle for Venini designed in the 1950s from the Morandiana series. This example is a 1960s edition, acid-etched venini murano italia signature under the base, origina...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bottles
MaterialsGlass
- Venini Bottle with StopperBy Paolo Venini, VeniniLocated in New York, NYVenini glass bottle with stopper in composite glass with finely wheel-engraved finish of delicate creases, incised on bottom "Venini Italia". P...Category
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Bottles
MaterialsGlass
- Large Vase of the 'Pesanti' Series, Paolo Venini for Venini, Murano 1952By Venini, Paolo VeniniLocated in Berghuelen, DEA large vase in thick amethyst glass with circular decoration on the neck. Designed by Paolo Venini in 1952, manufactured by Venini, Murano Venezia. Model number 1522. Acid stamp "ve...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsArt Glass, Murano Glass
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Barnaba Fornasetti’s Hallucinatory House Has His Father’s Spirit
Behind a nondescript facade in northeastern Milan is the magical residence of Barnaba Fornasetti. It's a shrine to the style developed by his design-legend father, which still defies categorization.
Billy Cotton Layers His Interiors with Lived-In Comfort
The Brooklyn-based designer is adept at styles ranging from austere to over-the-top, espousing an architectural, detail-oriented approach also evident in his line of furniture and lighting.