Gio Ponti "Fireside" Chair for Casa e Giardino, Italy 1930s
View Similar Items
Gio Ponti "Fireside" Chair for Casa e Giardino, Italy 1930s
About the Item
- Creator:Gio Ponti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 40.16 in (102 cm)Width: 16.93 in (43 cm)Depth: 18.12 in (46 cm)Seat Height: 11.82 in (30 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1930s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Some marks and scratches on the wood. The back is slightly asymmetric.
- Seller Location:Utrecht, NL
- Reference Number:Seller: 202213871stDibs: LU2947331598972
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.
- Pair of Lounge Chairs Attributed to Gio Ponti for ISA Bergamo, Italy 1950sBy Gio Ponti, ISA BergamoLocated in Utrecht, NLThis elegant pair of lounge chairs is attributed to the Italian designer Gio Ponti and was produced by ISA Bergamo in Italy during the 1950s. Several of Ponti’s designs had been manu...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- "Model 1462" Dining Chair by Karl Schrøder for Fritz Hansen, Denmark, 1930sBy Fritz HansenLocated in Utrecht, NLKarl Schrøder was an artist generally known for his ceramic creations that, for a period of time, he made in his studio in Lillerød. Late in his life he ...Category
Vintage 1930s Danish Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsPapercord, Wood
- Nordiska Kompaniet Pine "Ekerö" Chairs, Sweden 1930sBy Nordiska KompanietLocated in Utrecht, NLThese “Ekerö” chairs are often compared to Axel Einar Hjorth’s Utö model, and not without a reason. These models are often mentioned together thanks to their material and visual rese...Category
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsPine
- "Chaises Basses" Low Chairs by Charles Dudouyt, France 1930sBy Charles DudouytLocated in Utrecht, NLTurned chairs — sometimes called thrown chairs or spindle chairs — represent a style of Elizabethan or Jacobean turned furniture that had a vogue in late 16th and early 17th century England, New England and Holland. The technique was carried on to the 20th century and was widespread in Europe as well, where craftsmen created durable pieces for various interiors and purposes. These chairs were designed by French designer, Charles Dudouyt, who originally created this pair of small carved chairs as ‘fireside’ chairs, hence the “chaises basses...Category
Vintage 1930s French Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsPapercord, Wood
- Kaare Klint KK47000 "Safari" Chair in Patinated Leather, Denmark, 1930sBy Kaare KlintLocated in Utrecht, NLKaare Klint’s “KK47000” Safari chair is a refined version of the chairs brought on an African safari by an American cinematographer and his wife. Klint noticed the chairs in the couple’s photos, and they were most likely based on Roorkhee Chairs, the seminal pieces of British campaign furniture used by the military...Category
Vintage 1930s Danish Scandinavian Modern Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood
- Oak and Rush Armchairs, The Netherlands 1930sLocated in Utrecht, NLThis pair of chairs carries with it the same beloved modernist characteristics applied to American, Scandinavian, and Italian mid-century design – simple, functional – and shows the ...Category
Vintage 1930s Dutch Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsRush, Oak
$8,800 / set
- Gio Ponti Sofa, Casa E Giardino, Italy, 1930s/1940sBy Casa e Giardino, Gio PontiLocated in London, GBGio Ponti Sofa, produced by Casa e Giardino Milan, Italy, 1950s. Newly reupholstered with traditional sprung base and new light grey / silver velvet fabric.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsBeech, Fabric
- Pair Of Fireside Chairs By Gio Ponti For Casa E GiardinoBy Gio PontiLocated in London, LondonPair of fireside chairs By Gio Ponti For Casa e Giardino Rush seats High backs Seat height 30cm Italy Mid 20th century.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Slipper Chairs
MaterialsRush, Walnut
- Pair of Italian Armchairs by Gio Ponti for Casa e Giardino, 1930sBy Gio PontiLocated in Paris, FRA set of two Italian collectible vintage armchairs first designed by Gio Ponti for manufacturing company Casa e Giardino in the late 1930s. These have yet to be restored. Price inclu...Category
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Mahogany
- Gio Ponti For Casa E Giardino Fireside Side Accent Chair Black Rush Seat 1930'sBy Casa e Giardino, Gio PontiLocated in Wayne, NJBlack fireside chair by Gio Ponti for Casa E Giardino , Italy. Wood High back ladder chair with rush seating . Marked Made in Italy. If you are in the New Jersey, New York City Metro...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Side Chairs
MaterialsWood
$2,800 Sale Price / item20% Off - Gio Ponti, Chair for Casa e Giardino, wood and wicker, Milan 1939 circaBy Gio PontiLocated in Argelato, BOSculptural fireside chairs by Gio Ponti for Casa e Giardino, circa 1939. Natural woven rush seat.Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Chairs
MaterialsWicker, Wood
- elegant gio ponti lounge chairs for casa e giardinoBy Casa e Giardino, Gio PontiLocated in Munich, DEwonderful pair of very cosy gio ponti lounge chairs. very low, but with great comfort. and such beauties....Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsWood, Velvet
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.