Midcentury Italian Design, Dry Bar in the Style of Gio Ponti, 1950s

Magnificent Hollywood Regency style dry bar in chrome-plated steel, brass, glass, mirror, suede and woven rattan wicker. This incredibly rare version of the iconic dry bar designed ...

Marvelous Mid-Century dry bar with two stools made in a gorgeous mix of bamboo, rattan, wicker and white formica. This charming bar was designed by Tito Agnoli and made in Italy duri...

Unique midcentury cubic dry bar in lacquered ash wood, mirrored steel and glass dry bar with hidden wheels. Willy Rizzo probably produced this incredible piece of barware in Italy during the 1970s. The wheeled bar cart's four sides are in mirrored chromed steel, while the top is in dark smoked glass. It moves thanks to four hidden wheels, and the structure is veneered black lacquered oak. A design masterpiece that will become a cult furniture element in a midcentury bar or living room. Italian designer and photographer Willy Rizzo (1928-2013) first came to prominence in the 1960s as both a chronicler of and participant in La Dolce Vita, the glamorous, jet set lifestyle enjoyed by many international celebrities and socialites in the postwar era. While photography was Rizzo's first love, in the 1970s he developed a passion for interiors and launched a second successful career as a luxury furniture designer. Rizzo was born in Naples in 1928 but moved to France early. After expressing an interest in photography at the age of 12, Rizzo's mother gifted him an Agfa Box camera; soon he was shooting portraits of his classmates at Paris's Istituto Statale Italiano Leonardo Da Vinci. In the 1940s, Rizzo began his career as a photojournalist, working for several French publications, including Ciné Mondial, Point de Vue, and Image du Monde. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Rizzo notably covered the Nuremberg Trials and travelled to Tunisia for Point de Vue to photograph the conflict in North Africa, later published in Life Magazine. As his reputation grew, he was hired by France Dimanche to take portraits of the rich and famous at flashy events like the Cannes Film Festival. Rizzo's charm won the trust of royalty, dignitaries, and movie stars, allowing him to capture these public figures in unusually candid moments. Hoping to advance his career further, Rizzo travelled to New York with Black Star Agency in 1947 to photograph American starlets. When he returned to Paris two years later, he was invited to join Jean Prouvost’s newest publication in colour, Paris Match, as head photographer—a position that he held for 20 years and, along the way, sparked a new culture of celebrity photographers who were as intriguing and fashionable as their subjects. In 1959, he became the artistic director of Marie Claire and collaborated with other fashion magazines, such as Vogue. Throughout his career, Rizzo photographed dozens of stars, including Brigitte Bardot, Maria Callas, Salvador Dalí, Marlene Dietrich, Jane Fonda, Gene Kelly, and Gregory Peck, as well as striking up close friendships with famous personalities like Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, and Jack Nicholson. In 1962, Rizzo famously captured some of the last moments of Marilyn Monroe’s life on film before tragically committing suicide a few weeks later. In 1968, Rizzo married Italian actress Elsa Martinelli, and the pair relocated to Rome. It was here that Rizzo began his work in furniture design, starting with his newly-leased, run-down Roman apartment. Just for personal use (at first), Rizzo created a series one-of-a-kind pieces inspired by modernist icons, such as Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier. But as his glitterati friends—Rodolfo Parisi, Gigli Rizzi, Franco Rapetti, Salvador Dalí, Brigitte Bardot, and the like—became admirers of his work, Rizzo was flooded with design commissions. Rizzo went on to furnish apartments for Italian aristocracy in the Palazzo Borghese and Palazzo Ruspoli that same year and quickly earned an international reputation as a designer to the rich and famous. In response to ever-growing demand, he launched his own Tivoli-based company dedicated to contemporary furniture design handmade in lux materials such as wood, marble, stainless steel, brass, and wild boar. Over time, his team of eight grew to 150, and he was able to open shops in France and throughout Europe, as well as in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. With an emphasis on clean lines and geometric forms, Rizzo's tables, chairs, and accessories combined contemporary shapes with traditional materials—in contrast to many of his contemporaries, like Ettore Sottsass and Vico Magistretti, who were popularizing plastic, foam, and other synthetics in furniture production. Rizzo's most successful designs are many low, box-like tables in granite, metal, glass, or burled wood, often embellished with brass or chrome accents or built-in liquor cabinets or trays. Two examples of his most celebrated designs include the Alveo Coffee Table (1970s) for Mario Sabot and the circular Yin Yang Coffee Table...

Italian bar trolley or 1950s dry bar in lacquered walnut, bright white inside. Attributable to Cesare Lacca Outside there is a Venice press. The bar automatically switches on when...

Wonderful Gio Ponti midcentury wood and brass magazine rack with two prints. This incredible piece was designed in Italy during the 1950s and it is attributed to Gio Ponti. This item is amazing because of the asymmetrical design of the two side wood elements and the two prints, representing the globe, Sir Francis Drake and the mystical Golden Hind...

Gio Ponti style, appliqué with three-lights, golden brass, Italy, 1950s Use E14 bulbs.  

Vintage Italian dry bar is a midcentury design modern Italian bar in the style of Gio Ponti, circa 1950s. This beautiful bar cabinet consists ...

Dry bar suite, in the style of Gio Ponti, Italy 1950 An exceptional dark cherry wood veneer and brass 1950's Italian bar suite comprised of: A curved dry bar...

Vintage Italian dry bar is a midcentury design modern Italian bar in the style of Gio Ponti circa 1950. This beautiful bar cabinet consists ...

This bar unit is simply stunning-- from every single angle. often attributed to Gio Ponti, this bar features angular brass upright splayed legs, with atomic style ball feet. This bar is so clean, elegant and timeless, it could effortlessly flex into any mid century modern, traditional, regency or modern setting. This bar unit comes with one bar stool, although in researching this set, it would be very simple to make a pair, or matched set. Please reach out if you'd like assistance sourcing and reupholstering for a matched set. This bar unit is currently in our gallery alongside pieces by Paolo Buff...

Superb bar cabinet attributed to Gio Ponti, in mahogany and maple and brass inlays, the central glass has a mirror around it and a central engraving, which represents infinity, a typ...

Very elegant Italian Art Deco Mid-Century Modern dry bar cabinet cart characterized by its original Asian themed painted front wood pull-out tilt door with interior part in mirror glass, standing on its antique brass wheels...