Gio Ponti Furniture
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.
Late 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Velvet
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Faux Leather, Wood
1920s Italian Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Bronze
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Bouclé, Beech
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1920s Italian Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Bronze
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Walnut
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Iron
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass, Iron
Mid-19th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Antique Gio Ponti Furniture
Walnut
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Leather
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Mohair, Upholstery, Hardwood
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Fabric, Wood
2010s Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Iron, Brass, Aluminum
Early 20th Century Italian Art Deco Gio Ponti Furniture
Porcelain
1930s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Velvet
1930s Italian Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Cotton, Walnut
1950s Italian Other Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Wood, Straw
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Linen
1960s Italian Space Age Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Wood
1950s French Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Silver Plate
Early 20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Pottery
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Silver Plate
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Bronze
1920s Italian Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Bronze
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal, Chrome
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Rope, Ash
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Wrought Iron
2010s Italian Gio Ponti Furniture
Ash
1920s Italian Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1640s Italian Mid-Century Modern Antique Gio Ponti Furniture
Velvet, Beech
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Rope, Ash
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Brass
1920s Italian Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Rush, Wood
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Leather, Wood
1950s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Walnut
1950s Italian Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Linen, Oak
1930s Italian Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Stainless Steel
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
1930s Italian Art Deco Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Porcelain
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Walnut
Mid-20th Century Italian Gio Ponti Furniture
Walnut
1940s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Glass, Oak
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Metal
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Elm
1950s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Textile, Foam, Wood
1930s Italian Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Porcelain
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Walnut
1950s Italian Modern Vintage Gio Ponti Furniture
Rush, Ash