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.
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Sterling Silver
1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Velvet, Walnut
1930s Italian Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Ash, Upholstery
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Linen, Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
20th Century Italian Art Deco Gio Ponti Furniture
Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Velvet, Beech
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Fabric, Bamboo, Rattan
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
1950s Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Travertine
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Oak
21st Century and Contemporary Danish Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Upholstery, Wood
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Wood
Mid-17th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Antique Gio Ponti Furniture
Velvet, Beech
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Rattan, Ash
1960s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass, Nickel
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Ceramic, Luster
1990s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Gold
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Cane, Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Wood, Velvet
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
Mid-20th Century Italian Neoclassical Revival Gio Ponti Furniture
Beech
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal, Silver Plate
1980s French Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Silver Plate
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Velvet, Beech
Mid-20th Century Gio Ponti Furniture
Mirror
1970s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Stainless Steel
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Iron
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1930s Italian Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Maiolica
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Velvet, Beech
1930s Italian Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Glass, Mirror, Wood, Walnut
1950s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Murano Glass
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Mahogany, Walnut
1940s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Alpaca
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Fabric, Wood
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Walnut
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Formica, Walnut
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Wood, Raffia
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1920s Italian Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Porcelain
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Silver Plate
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Walnut
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Paper
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal