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Gio Ponti Decorative Objects

Italian, 1891-1979

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.

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Creator: Gio Ponti
Gio Ponti Richard Ginori San Cristoforo Ceramic Tile 1930 Signed
By Gio Ponti
Located in Milano, IT
Gio Ponti Richard Ginori San Cristoforo ceramic tile 1930, with polychrome decorations depicting flowers pot with insects, Italy.
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Art Deco Gio Ponti Decorative Objects

Materials

Ceramic

"Vetrate Grossa" Glass Sculpture by Gio Ponti, Italy, 1960s
By Venini, Gio Ponti
Located in Milan, IT
"Vetrata Grossa" glass sculpture by Gio Ponti for Venini. Colored glass block used as sample to compose screens, large windows or as single sculpture...
Category

1960s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Decorative Objects

Materials

Metal

Gio Ponti Silver Metal Sculpture Model Hand 5 Fingers for Sabattini, Italy
By Gio Ponti, Lino Sabattini
Located in Milan, Italy
Silver metal model hand 5 fingers designed by Gio Ponti for Sabattini in 1978. Signed.
Category

1970s Italian Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Decorative Objects

Materials

Metal

1930s Gio Ponti for Nino Ferrari Art Deco Italian Copper Vase
By Gio Ponti, Nino Ferrari
Located in Brescia, IT
Wrought copper vase "Nino Ferrari" engraved on the base Perfect condition.
Category

1930s Italian Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Decorative Objects

Materials

Copper

Gio Ponti and Paolo de Poli Large Scale Diavolo Enamel Sculpture
By Gio Ponti, Paolo De Poli
Located in Dallas, TX
Devil's face enamel sculpture designed by Gio Ponti and produced by Paolo De Poli in Italy, 1956.
Category

Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Decorative Objects

Materials

Copper, Enamel

Gio Ponti Design for "Manifattura Rossi" A Bucchero Female Nude Sculpture
By Gio Ponti
Located in CH
Carlo Alberto Rossi (Gubbio 1903-1970), Manifattura Rossi a Bucchero Female Sculpture after a Gio Ponti drawing, signed C. A. Rossi, circa 1940 Gio Ponti in the 1940s collaborated w...
Category

1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Decorative Objects

Materials

Ceramic

Gio Ponti Designed Vase for Paolo De Poli
By Gio Ponti, Paolo De Poli
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Battuto hand-hammered copper conical vessel enameled in mottled colors. Stamped and signed to the underside with an old Gumps paper label.
Category

1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Decorative Objects

Materials

Copper

Gio Ponti Design Apple-Shaped Box for Christofle, 1960s
By Gio Ponti, Christofle
Located in Brescia , Brescia
This exquisite piece showcases Ponti's timeless design aesthetic and the unparalleled craftsmanship of Christofle. The box features a charming apple shape, embodying Ponti's whimsic...
Category

1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Decorative Objects

Materials

Metal, Silver Plate

Gio Ponti decorative objects for sale on 1stDibs.

Gio Ponti decorative objects are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of metal and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Gio Ponti decorative objects, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. We have 66 vintage editions of these items in-stock, while there is 1 modern edition to choose from as well. Many of the original decorative objects by Gio Ponti were created in the mid-century modern style in europe during the 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider decorative objects by Bruno Gambone, Lino Sabattini, and Dino Martens. Prices for Gio Ponti decorative objects can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $362 and can go as high as $24,080, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $4,327.

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