Gio Ponti, Italy, 4 Dining Chairs for Singer & Sons, Model 116, 1950s
View Similar Items
Gio Ponti, Italy, 4 Dining Chairs for Singer & Sons, Model 116, 1950s
About the Item
- Creator:Gio Ponti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 33.86 in (86 cm)Width: 16.93 in (43 cm)Depth: 18.51 in (47 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 4
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Wargrave, GB
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU839514571471
Gio Ponti
An architect, furniture and industrial designer and editor, Gio Ponti was arguably the most influential figure in 20th-century Italian modernism.
Ponti designed thousands of furnishings and products — from cabinets, mirrors 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.
Ponti's 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, which was 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 vintage Gio Ponti desks, dining chairs, coffee tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Gio Ponti for Cassina, Harlequin Set of Leggera Chairs, Model 646 in Ash, 1950sBy Gio Ponti, CassinaLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireGio Ponti for Cassina, Harlequin Set of Four Leggera Chairs, Model 646, 1950s Ash frames, recently re-upholstered in Kvadrat fabric in yellow, green, red and orange. Good condition...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Ash
- Stylish 1950s Pendant Light, attributed to Gio Ponti for Greco IlluminazioneBy Gio Ponti, Greco illuminazioneLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireStylish pendant light, attributed to Gio Ponti for Greco Illuminazione, Italy 1950s Black enamelled metal curved shade with integral diffuser in concentric white enamelled metal rin...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsMetal
- Gio Ponti, Small Walnut Desk, from the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, 1950sBy Gio Ponti, SchirolliLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireGio Ponti small desk in light walnut on shaped tapering legs united by stretchers. The wood is in excellent condition with beautiful graining to the planked top, and the three friez...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsWalnut
- Gio Ponti, Walnut Writing Table, from the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, 1950sBy Schirolli, Gio PontiLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireGio Ponti desk in light walnut on shaped tapering legs united by stretchers. The wood is in excellent condition with beautiful graining to the planked top, and the two drawers to th...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Gianfranco Frattini, Pair of Lounge Chairs, model 849 for Cassina, 1950sBy Cassina, Gianfranco FrattiniLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireStunning pair of lounge chairs, designed by Gianfranco Frattini and produced by Cassina, 1950s. Model 849 in walnut, newly reupholstered in white bouclé fabric 74cm high, 84cm wide...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Walnut
- Angelo Lelii for Arredoluce, Chandelier model 12697, 1950sBy Arredoluce, Angelo LeliiLocated in Wargrave, BerkshireAngelo Lelii for Arredoluce, a rare model 12697 pendant light, pale turquoise circular plastic shade above fittings for six light bulbs with lower opaline glass shade, secured with ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
MaterialsBrass
- Gio Ponti Dining Chairs for Singer & Sons Set of SixBy Gio Ponti, M. Singer & SonsLocated in Chicago, ILGio Ponti dining chairs for Singer & Sons Set of Six Set includes two armchairs, model 149 and four side chairs, model 116 Refurbished walnut frames, newly...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsMohair, Walnut
$25,200 / set - Expertly Restored - Gio Ponti Model-111 Cognac Leather Chair for Singers & SonsBy Gio Ponti, SingerLocated in Los Angeles, CAManufacturer Singers & SonsCategory
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Wood, Walnut
- Set of Four Chairs, model 211 by Gio Ponti for Singer & SonsBy Gio Ponti, M. Singer & SonsLocated in Dallas, TXSert of four dining chairs model 211 designed by Gio Ponti, 1955 for Singer & Sons. The model 211 chair was originally designed for Villa Arreaza in Caracas in 1954. Chairs are const...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Walnut
- Set of 12 Gio Ponti Leggera Model 646 Dining Chairs for Cassina, Italy, 1950sBy Gio Ponti, CassinaLocated in London, GBA wonderful set of twelve original, early Gio Ponti Leggera Model 646 dining chairs, Cassina, Italy, 1950s. In restored condition with new ...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Wood
- Gio Ponti for Cassina set of four Leggera dining chairs, Italy 1950sBy Figli di Amadeo Cassina, Gio PontiLocated in Milan, ITSet of four 1st edition Ash and upholstery Gio Ponti Model 646/3 LEGGERA dining chairs for Cassina. Italy 1950sCategory
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Ash
- 1950s Gio Ponti Leggera Chair (Model 646) for Cassina, ItallyBy Gio Ponti, CassinaLocated in PEGO, ESSet of 4 (four) of the iconic Leggera chair by Gio Ponti, Italy 1951, manufactured by Cassina Spa They are in black lacquered ash-wood with new fabric and cushion seats which has be...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Hardwood
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.