Important Executive Gio Ponti Desk
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Important Executive Gio Ponti Desk
About the Item
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.
- Gio Ponti Set Coffe ServiceBy Gio PontiLocated in Rome, ITA Gio Ponti set of coffe and tea service from the Hotel Parco dei Principi In Roma ; six pieces; in alpacca by Calderoni Argenteria stamped logo PDP. Sold with a letter of authenti...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Sheffield and Silverplate
$3,081 / set - Gio Ponti Set of 3 High TureensBy Gio PontiLocated in Rome, ITGio Ponti set of 3 high tureen with cup from the Hotel Parco dei Principi in Rome;stamped with logo PDP;produced By Calderoni Argenterie. Sold with a letter of authenticity of Lisa...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Serving Pieces
$5,281 / set - Gio Ponti Set Of Two Lidded ServersBy Gio PontiLocated in Rome, ITGio Ponti set of two lidded servers with cup;from the Hotel Parco dei Pricnipi in Roma in alpacca by CalederonI Argenteria; stamped with logo PDP. Sold with a letter of authenticity...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Serving Pieces
$2,860 / set - Gio Ponti Set Of Alpacca Sauce ServersBy Gio PontiLocated in Rome, ITSet of three GIO PONTI sauce servers from hotel Parco dei Principi,Rome; alpacca by Calderoni Argenteria,stamped logo PDP and Calderoni. Sold with a letter of authenticity of Lisa L...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Serving Pieces
$2,640 / set - Gio Ponti Flatware Set For 6 (54 Pieces)By Gio PontiLocated in Rome, ITGio Ponti complete flatware set for 6 people (54 pieces) from the Hotel Parco dei Principi in Rome;stamped with logo PDP;produced By Calderoni Ar...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Tableware
$13,204 / set - Gio Ponti White Sofa from Casa & Giardino, circa 1938By Gio PontiLocated in Rome, ITA Gio Ponti Casa & Giardino white sofa, circa 1938 walnut and fabric; white cotton and walnut feet fully rest orated and newly upholstered Measure: height 79, cm 152 x 82cm, high ...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Modern Sofas
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$6,866 Sale Price20% Off
- Gio Ponti DeskBy Gio PontiLocated in New York, NYGio Ponti custom eight-drawer desk. From a small edition created for administrative offices in Forli, Italy. Blonde wood desk with red linoleum top,...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
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$26,000 - Gio Ponti Attributed DeskBy Gio PontiLocated in Beverly Hills, CARare Gio Ponti attributed desk - Italy, 1950s Gorgeous from every angle with floating top and drawers and angular scissor legs Constructed of oak wood and original black top In...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Desks
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$24,500 - Gio Ponti: Monumental Executive Desk in Reeded Walnut and Brass, Italy 1950sBy Gio PontiLocated in New York, NYGio Ponti (1891-1979) A rare and important executive desk by Gio Ponti, in dramatically carved and reeded walnut with polished brass details. Impeccably crafted, starkly geometric i...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsBrass
- Secretary Desk Attributed to Gio PontiBy Gio PontiLocated in Kilmarnock, VAWonderful Italian pear wood secretary featuring a reverse painted glass top supported by compass like legs ending in heavy brass sabots. Above the desk are book shelves and an off c...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Secretaires
- Iconic Gio Ponti Desk for BNLBy Gio PontiLocated in New York, NYIconic 1950s desk designed by Gio Ponti for BNL. Walnut frame and laminate top with exquisite brass details in the handles and feet. Condition: Excellent vintage condition, minor ...Category
Antique Mid-19th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks
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$9,685 Sale Price35% Off - Desk Laminate, 1950 Italian Furniture Especially Gio Ponti AttributedBy Gio PontiLocated in Palermo, SicilyDesk laminate, 1950 Italian furniture especially Gio Ponti Attributed, made of colored laminate, brass legs spiked, and glass, presents in the lam...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks
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