Birch Armchairs

Mid-Century Modern armchair made of a solid birch wood structure upholsterd with a white linen base, blue, yellow and red embroidery with brass legs. Made in Italy in the 1950's.

Mid-Century Modern armchair made of a solid birch wood structure upholsterd with a white linen base, blue, yellow and red embroidery with brass legs. Made in Italy in the 1950's.

Mid-Century Modern pair of armchairs made of a solid birch wood structure upholsterd with a white linen base, blue, yellow and red embroidery. Made in sweden in the 1950's.

Birchwood Easychair designed by Gio Ponti (Cassina, Milano) for Hotel Parco dei Principe, Sorrento, 1958, Italy. This chair has the original vinyl upholstery. Gio Ponti (1891-1979) Italy Gio Ponti was born in 1891 in Milan where he spent his childhood and enrolled for an architecture degree at the Politecnico. In 1921 he graduated having intrupted his studies during World War One. In 1923, instead of practising as an architect, Ponti became the Artistic Director of Richard-Ginori, the ceramics manufacturer for which he won the `Grand Prix` at the 1925 Paris Expo. From 1923 to 1930, he turned the company into a role model of industrial design excellence by decorating simple ceramic forms with elegant neo-classical motifs. `Industry is the style of the 20th century, its mode of creation,` are Ponti`s words. 1928 Ponti founded `Domus`, which he establishes as Europe`s most influential architecture and design magazine. in 1941 Ponti quit `Domus` to found `Stile`, an Italian art and architecture magazine. In 1947 Ponti left `Stile` to resume the editorship of `Domus`. Ponti insisted that decoration and modern ideas were not incompatible. His ideas about blending the old and the new did have supporters - among them the fascists of the 1930s. Mussolini and his ministers were enthusiastic about all things new, especially if they preserved cultural identity, and Ponti`s writings on the "Italianness" of his homes Publication of `Amate L`Architettura`, a new version of a book of essays which orginated in Ponti`s 1940 pamphlet, `Architecture is a crystal`. In 1933 Ponti organised the 5th Triennale exhibition (originally in Monza) in Milan and his work extended to stage sets and costumes for the opera house `La Scala` in Milan. Ponti was actively involved in the Industrial Design Association (ADI) and was one of the organizers of the Golden Compass promoted by the La Rinascente department store. fFom 1936 to 1961 he was Professor on the permanent staff of the Faculty of Architecture at the Milan Polytechnic. In 1934 he received the title of Commander of the Royal Vasa order in Stockholm being the art prize of the Accademia d`Italia. He also received an honorary doctorate from the Royal College of Art in London, Ponti dis-regarded conventional boundaries and explored a profound analogy between different fields of art and design, ranging from the minor arts and furniture to overarching architectural schemes. In 1946 he started a three year project to design Murano glassware for Venini. 1948 he unveiled the La Pavoni...