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 Italian Post-War Rosewood & Mahogany Cabinet
By Gio Ponti
Located in Queens, NY
Italian Post-War Design (1950s) rosewood and mahogany wall unit bar with 3 lower commodes and upper cabinet decorative tiles on white lacquered door...
Rosewood, Mahogany, Mirror, Lacquer
Italian Armoire by Gio Ponti for P. Lietti, 1928
By Paolo Lietti & Figli, Gio Ponti, Luigi Brusotti
Located in Meda, MB
This wardrobe was produced in Italy, in Cantù (small village in the north of Italy, next to Milan), by Paolo Lietti & Figli and designed by Gio Ponti. It features a mirror manufa...
Bronze
$7,984Sale Price|63% Off
H 43.31 in Dm 59.06 in
Italian Dry Bar in Black Murano Glass & Brass Inspired by Gio Ponti, 1950s style
By Gio Ponti
Located in Guazzora, IT
This Italian dry bar, inspired by Gio Ponti's iconic 1950s style, is a stunning piece of mid-century modern furniture. Crafted by the skilled artisans at JustFurnituress, it combin...
Brass
$4,208
H 35.83 in W 63.39 in D 17.33 in
Italian Console Unit Sideboard 60's Style Paolo Buffa Gio Ponti Wood
By Paolo Buffa
Located in Ternay, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Italian sideboard from the 60's very decorative in the taste of Paolo Buffa or Gio Ponti's work. The set is made of different types of wood, veneered or solid. This sideboard has fou...
Wood
Stunning Italian Bar Cabinet
Located in Antwerp, BE
The buffet is mobile and can be driven in the wall unit. The bar has a beautiful copper countertop installed. The cabinets of the wall unit is equipp...
Brass, Copper
$2,597Sale Price|28% Off
H 71.26 in W 47.25 in D 9.06 in
Giò Ponti in the Manner Italian Midcentury Coat Racks 50's
By Gio Ponti
Located in bari, IT
Walnut wood structure coat rack with brass table anchored to the structure, embellished with brass circles creating harmony in the wooden panel. Crystal hood with brass anchors. 1950...
Brass
Fine French Art Deco Rosewood and Mahogany Bar
Located in Long Island City, NY
A Fine French Art Deco rosewood marquetry and mahogany bar with a pull-out mirrored tablet and brass details.
Brass
$7,300
H 37.41 in W 90.16 in D 2,026.78 in
Gio Ponti - Inspired - Sideboard - Macassar - 1960s - Italy
By Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann
Located in Split, Splitsko-dalmatinska županija
Italian Macassar Sideboard with Brass Details, in the Style of Gio Ponti, Vittorio Dassi, 1960s Cinematic glamour distilled to line and sheen — a collector’s piece of Italian mid-cen...
Teak
$4,208
H 59.06 in W 48.04 in D 1.97 in
Pair of Gio Ponti Wardrobe Doors from the Hotel Royal, Naples, 1955
By Giordano Chiesa, Gio Ponti
Located in Rome, IT
Rare pair of Gio Ponti wardrobe doors, 1955 from the furniture of the Hotel Royal, Naples manufactured by Giordano Chiesa and produced by Dassi Lissone 2 mirrors on the verso walnut,...
Brass
$8,658
H 37.6 in W 86.82 in D 19.89 in
Gio Ponti - Inspired - Sideboard - Macassar - Impressive - 1960s - France
By Émile-Jacques Ruhlmann
Located in Split, Splitsko-dalmatinska županija
A prow of polished wood and brass — domestic architecture at the scale of furniture. This striking sideboard channels the daring spirit of Gio Ponti, where cabinetry becomes a small...
Teak
$9,550 / item
H 32 in W 36 in D 18 in
Modern Italian Custom Art Deco Style Royal Pink Glass Brass Edged Cabinet /Bar
Located in New York, NY
Bring glamour to your room with this bespoke customizable modern cabinet, entirely handcrafted in Italy, with a Hollywood Regency feel. The surround is decorated with art glass in a striking brilliant salmon rose color, striped vertically and horizontally with brass inserts, the glass tiles in relief creating a plush quilted effect. This credenza is raised on sexy stiletto legs, fitted with unique handles individually hand-made in cast brass. High quality of execution with great attention to detail: the whole body and doors are exquisitely edged with brass profiles, rosewood interior with one shelf, or can be fitted as a dry bar with a curved glass shelf...
Brass
$6,500
H 29.2 in W 30.8 in D 14.4 in
Art Deco Dry Bar Cabinet by Meroni & Fossati Gio Ponti attributed, Briar of Elm
By Gio Ponti
Located in Vigonza, Padua
Small cabinet buffet, dry bar, Art Deco period 1940 , Gio Ponti attributed per Meroni & Fossati, veneered in briar of elm with interior in mahogany . Original handless of the period....
Walnut, Burl
Grand 18th Century Country French Buffet a Deux Corps in Stripped Oak
Located in Dallas, TX
Rooted in the refined traditions of the French countryside, this grand 18th century buffet à deux corps reflects the quiet elegance associated with well-appointed provincial homes an...
Oak
$10,822
H 43.31 in Dm 118.12 in
King Size Dry bar Green Murano Glass & Brass Gio Ponti-inspired Made in Italy
By Gio Ponti
Located in Guazzora, IT
The King Dry Bar by JustFurnituress, inspired by Gio Ponti's design style, combines innovative aesthetics with exceptional craftsmanship. As both designer and manufacturer, JustFurni...
Brass
Gio Ponti Cabinet for Singer
By Gio Ponti
Located in Chicago, IL
Handsome and versatile walnut cabinet designed by Gio Ponti for M. Singer & Sons. Can be used as a sideboard or buffet, a credenza, a dresser or as a media stand. It has 4 wide drawe...
Brass