Set of six "Leggera" chairs by Gio Ponti for Cassina
View Similar Items
Set of six "Leggera" chairs by Gio Ponti for Cassina
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.
Cassina
Furniture manufacturer Cassina is a prolific design house for more reasons than one: It not only owns the licenses to an exquisite collection of iconic chairs, sofas, tables and other pieces from the 20th and 21st centuries but also produces original works that are characterized by innovation and the finest Italian craftsmanship.
Cassina’s illustrious legacy includes being one of the first companies to bring industrial design to Italy in the 1950s. Founded in 1927 in Meda, Italy, by brothers Cesare and Umberto Cassina, the Italian manufacturing giant originally specialized in bespoke woodworking. In nearly a century since its founding, the company has shown incredible foresight about design trends and the evolution of technology.
In 1964, Cassina signed an exclusive licensing agreement to manufacture furniture by Le Corbusier and his collaborators — such as the LC4 chaise longue made with trailblazing French modernist Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret — a move that would shape the future of the company. Cassina’s I Maestri collection is an ongoing initiative to restyle landmark designs from the 20th century, such as pieces by Gerrit Rietveld (the Red and Blue armchair from 1918), Charles Rennie Mackintosh, Erik Gunnar Asplund, Franco Albini and Frank Lloyd Wright. The company preserves the intentions and original styles of their designs but adds updated techniques, materials and processes — rendering them the best possible combination of past, present and future. The brand has also worked with contemporary icons like Zaha Hadid, Gio Ponti and Philippe Starck.
Cassina’s original designs are cutting-edge as well. They include pieces for everyday use, the development of which is guided by comfort and the marriage of Italian craftsmanship with industrial technology.
Some of Cassina’s pieces, both from its contemporary and I Maestri collections, can be found in the collections of museums like the Museum of Modern Art and the Vitra Design Museum. In 2014, the company became part of Haworth in its acquisition of Italian furniture group Poltrona Frau, and in 2015, Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola joined Cassina as its art director, leading the brand into its next century of inventive style.
Find a collection of new and vintage Cassina furniture on 1stDibs.
- set di 6 sedie in noce mod. 101 di Gianfranco Frattini per CassinaBy Cassina, Gianfranco FrattiniLocated in Milan, ITSet di sei sedie in noce modello 1001, disegnate nel 1960 da Gianfranco Frattini e prodotte da Cassina. Recano le etichette originali, le sedute sono state restaurate usando un bel s...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Chairs
MaterialsVelvet, Walnut
- Rare "DU22" Plywood Chair by Gastone Rinaldi for RIMA, 1951, three availableBy RIMA, Gastone RinaldiLocated in Milan, ITRare "DU22" chair designed by Gastone Rinaldi for RIMA in 1951. Metal sheet and plywood structure, vinyl covered upholstery. This chair was firstly introduced during the "Arti and Es...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsMetal
- Trespolo Unique Sculptural Chair by Ennio NonniBy Ennio NonniLocated in Milan, ITTrespolo is a made to order sculptural chair designed by Ennio Nonni for FragilEdizioni. The hand crafted structure is made from wood, detail as bird is made from ceramic and could b...Category
2010s Chairs
MaterialsCeramic, Hardwood
- Black Flower 1, unique sculptural chair by Ennio NonniBy Ennio NonniLocated in Milan, ITBlack Flower is a made to order sculptural series of chairs designed by Ennio Nonni for FragilEdizioni. The hand crafted structure is made from iron, details as butterfly and globe e...Category
2010s Chairs
MaterialsIron
- Black Flower 3 and 6, Sculptural Unique Chairs by Ennio NonniBy Ennio NonniLocated in Milan, ITBlack Flower is a made to order sculptural series of chairs designed by Ennio Nonni for FragilEdizioni. The hand crafted structure is made from iron, detail as butterfly is made from...Category
2010s Chairs
MaterialsIron
- Set of three pendants by Massimo Vignelli for Venini in Murano GlassBy Venini, Massimo VignelliLocated in Milan, ITSet of Three pendants mod. 4041 in light blue etched Murano Glass designed by Massimo Vignelli and produced by Venini since 1954. Perfect condition, original electrical system and or...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMurano Glass
- Gio Ponti 646 "Leggera" Dining Chairs for Cassina, 1952, Set of 6By Gio Ponti, CassinaLocated in Lonigo, VenetoGio Ponti 646 "Leggera" dining chairs for Cassina, black ash-wood and rope seat, Italy, 1952, set of six. The model 646 "Leggera" is an icon of chair...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsRope, Ash
- Gio Ponti 646 "Leggera" Dining Chairs for Cassina, 1952, Set of 4By Gio Ponti, CassinaLocated in Lonigo, VenetoGio Ponti 646 "Leggera" dining chairs for Cassina, black ash-wood and rope seat, Italy, 1952, set of four. The model 646 "Leggera" is an icon of chai...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsRope, Ash
- Set of 4 Orange Leather "Leggera" Chairs by Gio Ponti for Cassina, Italy, 1950sBy Gio Ponti, CassinaLocated in Milan, ITFour chairs model 646 by Gio Ponti for Cassina. Rare version with upholstered backrest. Set features three chairs come with same color and the fourth one in a different color.Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Chairs
MaterialsWood
- Leggera Mid Century Dining Chair by Gio Ponti for CassinaBy Gio Ponti, CassinaLocated in Milano, ITPrice for chair, 8 chairs available. Giò Ponti needs no introduction: He's been arguably the most influential personality in Italian design and architecture for almost three decades...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood
$1,098 Sale Price / item20% Off - Gio Ponti 646 "Leggera" Dining Chairs for Cassina, 1952, Set of 14By Cassina, Gio PontiLocated in Lonigo, VenetoGio Ponti 646 "Leggera" dining chairs for Cassina, black ash-wood and rope seat, Italy, 1952, set of fourteen. The model 646 "Leggera" is an icon of chair design and of Cassina’s...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsRope, Ash
- Gio Ponti 646 "Leggera" Dining Chairs for Cassina, 1952, Set of 12By Gio Ponti, CassinaLocated in Lonigo, VenetoGio Ponti 646 "Leggera" dining chairs for Cassina, black ash-wood and rope seat, Italy, 1952, set of twelve. The model 646 "Leggera" is an icon of ch...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsRope, Ash
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.