Organ Vase by Gio Ponti for Christofle, circa 1950
View Similar Items
Organ Vase by Gio Ponti for Christofle, circa 1950
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 (1891–1979) designed thousands of furnishings and products — from cabinets, lamps 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.
His 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 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 Gio Ponti furniture on 1stDibs.
- Gio Ponti Christofle Style Brass Vase, Italy 1960sBy Christofle, Gio PontiLocated in Grand Cayman, KYStunning Mid Century Modern organ vase sculpted from brass tubes and brass rods, Gio Ponti for Christofle style. Sourced in Italy and dating to the early 1960s. The vase is construc...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsBrass
- Minimal Vase Sculptural for Christofle 1960 Gio Ponti Silver Plate StyleBy Gio PontiLocated in Palermo, SicilyJacques Sitoleux vase sculptural for Cristofle 1960 Gio Ponti.Category
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsSilver Plate
$2,143 Sale Price21% Off - Lidded Vase by Gio Ponti for Richard Ginori, 1930sBy Gio PontiLocated in Zürich, CHGio Ponti Teal-coloured lidded vase/Urn 5756 Inscribed at the bottom '695T' Expertise conducted by the Gio Ponti Archives The vase is in great con...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsCeramic
- Ceramic Vase by Gio Ponti for Richard Ginori, 1930sBy Gio Ponti, Richard GinoriLocated in BARCELONA, ESImmerse your space in the timeless elegance of Gio Ponti's Ceramic Vase for Richard Ginori, a masterpiece from the 1930s. Ponti, a maestro of design, lends his artistic finesse to th...Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Art Deco Vases
MaterialsCeramic
- Circus Ceramic Vase by Gio PontiBy Gio PontiLocated in Ciudad Autónoma Buenos Aires, CCeramic vase by Gio Ponti (1891-1979). Two-Handled vase decorated in relief with circus theme. Valerio Terraroli (2007) "Italian Art Ceramics: ...Category
Vintage 1920s Italian Art Deco Vases
MaterialsCeramic
- Gio Ponti Designed Vase for Paolo De PoliBy Gio Ponti, Paolo De PoliLocated in Brooklyn, NYBattuto hand-hammered copper conical vessel enameled in mottled colors. Stamped and signed to the underside with an old Gumps paper label.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vases
MaterialsCopper
Recently Viewed
View AllRead More
Barnaba Fornasetti’s Hallucinatory House Has His Father’s Spirit
Behind a nondescript facade in northeastern Milan is the magical residence of Barnaba Fornasetti. It's a shrine to the style developed by his design-legend father, which still defies categorization.
Billy Cotton Layers His Interiors with Lived-In Comfort
The Brooklyn-based designer is adept at styles ranging from austere to over-the-top, espousing an architectural, detail-oriented approach also evident in his line of furniture and lighting.