- Want more images or videos?Request additional images or videos from the seller
Gio Ponti for Cassina Pair of Walnut Armchairs Model 516

About
Details
- Creator
- DimensionsHeight: 30.71 in. (78 cm)Width: 24.81 in. (63 cm)Depth: 27.56 in. (70 cm)Seat Height: 14.57 in. (37 cm)
- StyleMid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques
- Place of Origin
- Period
- Date of Manufacture1960
- ConditionReupholstered. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller LocationRovereta, SM
- Reference Number1stDibs: LU3757321068302
Shipping & Returns
- ShippingRates vary by destination and complexity.Ships From: Rovereta, San Marino
- Return Policy
A return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
About Gio Ponti (Designer)
An architect, furniture and industrial designer and editor, Giò Ponti was arguably the most influential figure in 20th-century Italian Modernism. Ponti 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.
- By ISA Bergamo, Gio PontiLocated in Rovereta, SMPair of Gio Ponti armchairs velvet upholstery, I.S.A. Bergamo manufacturer, Italy, 1950s.Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsWood
- By Gio Ponti, Pietro ChiesaLocated in Rovereta, SMPair of Italian master architect Gio Ponti black lacquered walnut side tables with mirrored glass tops by Pietro...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- By Gio Ponti, M. Singer & SonsLocated in Rovereta, SMA rare and singularly elegant model 1101 cocktail table by Gio Ponti for Singer & Sons, Italy, early 1950s. Soli...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- By Gio Ponti, I.S.A. ItalyLocated in Rovereta, SMThe set of seven modular coffee tables in metal, black formica laminate and oakwood designed by Gio Ponti for I....Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- By Ron AradLocated in Rovereta, SMPair of little Albert black lacquered polyethylene armchairs, designed in 2000 by Ron Arad (Tel-Aviv, 1951) for ...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsPolystyrene
- By Fratelli ReguittiLocated in Rovereta, SMFratelli Reguitti, pair of 'Lord' armchairs, walnut, red fabric upholstery, Italy, 1959. Beautiful armchairs wa...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsWalnut
$8,631 / set
You May Also Like
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Upholstery, Walnut
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Wood
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Fabric, Walnut
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
Fabric, Walnut
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Club Chairs
Cherry
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Wood
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
Velvet, Faux Leather, Rosewood
Vintage 1950s Italian Armchairs
Velvet
The 1stDibs Promise
Learn MoreExpertly Vetted Sellers
Confidence at Checkout
Price-Match Guarantee
Exceptional Support
Buyer Protection
Insured Global Delivery