Gio Ponti Furniture
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.
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Mahogany, Walnut
1920s Italian Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Mirror, Formica, Ash
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Glass, Walnut
2010s Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Ash
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Gio Ponti Furniture
Leather, Ash
1950s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Cane, Wood
2010s Italian Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Chrome
2010s Italian Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Velvet, Walnut
2010s Italian Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Wood, Ash
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Aluminum, Iron
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Leather, Fabric, Ash
1980s Italian Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Ceramic
1980s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Upholstery, Walnut
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Wood, Rattan
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Wood, Fruitwood
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Wood, Straw
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
20th Century Italian Art Deco Gio Ponti Furniture
Silver Plate
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Ceramic
1950s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Ceramic
1950s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Gio Ponti Furniture
Glass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Straw, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Fabric, Wood
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Stainless Steel
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Steel
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Stainless Steel
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass