Gio Ponti Office Chair in Beech Wood for BNL Italian Manufacture 1940s
View Similar Items
Gio Ponti Office Chair in Beech Wood for BNL Italian Manufacture 1940s
About the Item
- Creator:Gio Ponti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32.68 in (83 cm)Width: 18.12 in (46 cm)Depth: 15.75 in (40 cm)Seat Height: 17.52 in (44.5 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1940s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Montecatini Terme, IT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5304232165822
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 Round Coffee Table in Walnut Wood Italian Manifacture 1940sBy Gio PontiLocated in Montecatini Terme, ITRound shaped coffee table with three legs, in walnut wood and brass details. Attribuited to Gio Ponti, Italian manufacture from the late 1940s to the early 1950s Gio Ponti was an icon of the modernist movement: the Italian designer, architect, artist and publisher contributed significantly to the worlds of architecture and design with his extensive work in fine furniture and ceramics, education, office and residential buildings, and everything in between. Giovanni, known as Gio Ponti was born in 1891 in Milan. It was there that he spent his childhood, and in 1921 he began to study architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. From 1923 to 1930 he served as the artistic director of the Richard-Ginori porcelain factory. In 1927, Ponti started his first architectural office, together with Emilio Lancia, and in 1928 he started the magazine Domus, which is still regarded as one of the most influential European magazines for architecture and design. He was also very influential during the period as a curator of the Milan Triennale. After his collaboration with Emilio Lancia had come to an end, upon completion of the Torre Rasini, he began to work as an architect together with the engineers Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Gio Ponti Ninfea Folding Chairs in Wood and White Fabric by Reguitti 1960s ItalyBy Gio Ponti, Fratelli ReguittiLocated in Montecatini Terme, ITA Ninfea (or Pieghevole Ninfea) folding lounge chair with a structure in the wood, seat, and back in woven white fabric and brass hinges. The Ninfea chair...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsBrass
$1,750 Sale Price20% Off - Set of Six Dining Chairs in Wood by Sineo Gemignani Italian Manufacture 1940sBy Sineo GemignaniLocated in Montecatini Terme, ITA very rare set of six dining chairs entirely made in curved wood, this set was designed by the Italian artist Sineo Gemignani and manufactured in Ital...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Gio Ponti Round Coffee Table in Walnut Wood Italian Manufacture 1950sBy Gio PontiLocated in Montecatini Terme, ITRound coffee table realized in walnut wood with metal details, the tabletop presents an elegant circular decorative motif. Attribuited to Gio Ponti, Italian manufacturer from the 1950s Gio Ponti was an icon of the modernist movement: the Italian designer, architect, artist and publisher contributed significantly to the worlds of architecture and design with his extensive work in fine furniture and ceramics, education, office and residential buildings, and everything in between. Giovanni, known as Gio Ponti was born in 1891 in Milan. It was there that he spent his childhood, and in 1921 he began to study architecture at the Politecnico di Milano. From 1923 to 1930 he served as the artistic director of the Richard-Ginori porcelain factory. In 1927, Ponti started his first architectural office, together with Emilio Lancia, and in 1928 he started the magazine Domus, which is still regarded as one of the most influential European magazines for architecture and design. He was also very influential during the period as a curator of the Milan Triennale. After his collaboration with Emilio Lancia had come to an end, upon completion of the Torre Rasini, he began to work as an architect together with the engineers Antonio Fornaroli and Eugenio Soncini...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMetal
$1,837 Sale Price40% Off - Gio Ponti Gabriella Folding Lounge Chair in Black Vynil by Pallucco, 1991, ItalyBy Gio Ponti, PalluccoLocated in Montecatini Terme, ITGabriella folding lounge chair with a steel frame, seat, and back upholstered in black vinyl or Naugahyde. This iconic chair was designed by the Italian designer Gio Ponti and rele...Category
1990s Italian Post-Modern Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Gio Ponti Set of Four Leggera Dining Chairs by Cassina 1951 ItalyBy Gio Ponti, CassinaLocated in Montecatini Terme, ITSet of four Leggera dining chairs with structure in black lacquered wood and seat in padded blue leatherette, designed by Gio Ponti and manufactured by Cassina in 1951. Leggera is a...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsFaux Leather, Wood
- Occasional Chair by Gio PontiBy Gio PontiLocated in St.Petersburg, FLA beautiful, vintage dining/desk/occasional chair by Gio Ponti for Singer&Sons, ca' 1950's. Restored with wool seats by Larsen fabric, papercord bac...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
- Office Chair by Gio PontiBy Gio PontiLocated in Berlin, DEAluminium Provenance Montecatini Headquarters Milan, 1938.Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
$16,352 - Italian Midcentury Side Chair after Gio Ponti with Gold and Ivory Cut VelvetBy Gio PontiLocated in Saint Louis, MOItalian midcentury side chair after Gio Ponti with gold yellow and ivory cut velvet, circa 1950s. So many details, where to begin. The b...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsVelvet
- Silver Office Tanker Desk Chair by Gio Ponti for Goodform 1950sBy Gio Ponti, GoodFormLocated in Chula Vista, CATanker Chair by Gio Ponti produced by GOODFORM Youngstown, Ohio: 1938 Industrial Swivel Tanker Vintage Office Desk Chair designed by Gio Pont...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
MaterialsMetal, Aluminum, Steel
$680 Sale Price78% Off - 1940's Office Chair in Red Cedar Wood, Gold Leaf StripeBy Andrés SiegelLocated in Ciudad de Mexico, MXIntervened office chair, circa 1940 made of red cedar wood and varnished, intervened with gold leaf stripe.Category
Vintage 1940s Mexican Restauration Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
MaterialsCedar
- Gio Ponti & Alberto Roselli for Arflex, Pair of "Airone" Model Office ChairsBy Gio Ponti, Alberto Rosselli Saporiti, ArflexLocated in New York, NYUpholstered form seat and back over chrome-plated and enameled steel swivel base. Manufacturers label to underside.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Modern Office Chairs and Desk Chairs
MaterialsSteel
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.