Gio Ponti Student's Desk
View Similar Items
Gio Ponti Student's Desk
About the Item
- Creator:Gio Ponti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 28 in (71.12 cm)Width: 35.25 in (89.54 cm)Depth: 20 in (50.8 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950s
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Beverly Hills, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU80802840862
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 Attributed DeskBy Gio PontiLocated in Beverly Hills, CARare Gio Ponti attributed desk - Italy, 1950s Gorgeous from every angle with floating top and drawers and angular scissor legs Constructed of oak wood and original black top In...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Desks
MaterialsOak, Laminate
$24,500 - 1950s Italian Writing DeskBy Gio PontiLocated in Beverly Hills, CA1950s Italian writing desk in the manner of Gio Ponti Wonderfully constructed of beechwood with original kelly green laminate top. Great hardware...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Desks
MaterialsLaminate, Beech
$6,000 Sale Price36% Off - Jacques Adnet DeskBy Jacques AdnetLocated in Beverly Hills, CARare and important desk by Jacques Adnet wrapped in black leather with signature saddle stitching and 3 drawers. Curved legs wrapped in leather with b...Category
Vintage 1950s French Desks
MaterialsLeather, Acrylic, Walnut
$25,000 Sale Price28% Off - Jacques Adnet Table/DeskBy Jacques AdnetLocated in Beverly Hills, CAWonderful Jacques Adnet table which could also be used as a desk. Beautiful slatted wood top and signature caramel leather legs with contrast stitch detail New leather beautifully...Category
Vintage 1940s French Center Tables
MaterialsLeather, Oak
$42,000 - Charles Dudouyt Desk & ChairBy Charles DudouytLocated in Beverly Hills, CAIncredible Charles Dudouyt desk and chair with signature corkscrew carved legs, checkerboard wood top and carved circular detailed sides. Great sma...Category
Vintage 1940s French Desks
MaterialsOak
$10,500 - Jacques Adnet TableBy Jacques AdnetLocated in Beverly Hills, CAWonderful Jacques Adnet table which could also be used as a desk. Beautiful slatted oak wood top and signature caramel leather legs with contrast stitch detail New leather beautif...Category
Vintage 1940s French Center Tables
MaterialsLeather, Oak
$22,000 Sale Price47% Off
- Young Student’s Retro Bedroom SetLocated in Chillerton, Isle of WightYoung Student’s Retro Bedroom Set Bright and very stylish the set comprises a writing table, tub chair, pebble coffee table and pair of bedside tab...Category
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Children's Furniture
MaterialsBeech
- Small School Desk in Oak, 1900Located in Marseille, FRSmall school desk in oak 1900 with vintage porcelain inkwell. Dimension height 73 cm for a width of 50 cm and a depth of 44 cm. Additional informa...Category
Antique 19th Century Desks
MaterialsOak
- Small Desk 2 Places of Schoolboy in Beech, 1920Located in Marseille, FRSmall school desk in oak 1900. Height dimension 80 cm for a width of 112 cm and a depth of 88 cm. Additional information: Style: 1900 period Mat...Category
20th Century Desks
MaterialsBeech
- Austrian Bentwood Child DeskBy ThonetLocated in New York, NYAustrian Bentwood small child's desk with attached chair with double hoop back design. (THONET label and brand)Category
Antique 19th Century Austrian Desks and Writing Tables
MaterialsBentwood
- Georgian Miniature Oak Kneehole DeskLocated in Bedfordshire, GBA Charming and Relatively rare mid 18th century, Georgian, oak miniature kneehole desk, having seven drawers with original turned brass knobs flanking central cupboard door with geometric inlaid decoration. Often there is debate over miniature furnitures original purpose. Was it was made as an apprentice piece, which is where somebody who is looking for a job in a workshop would create something to showcase their talents, or was it made as a travelling salesman...Category
Antique Mid-18th Century English George III Models and Miniatures
MaterialsOak
- French Folding Child's Desk and ChairLocated in Winter Park, FLA French folding child's school desk and chair made of beechwood. The desktop has dovetailed corners and a sliding top for storage. The attache...Category
Early 20th Century French Children's Furniture
MaterialsMetal
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.