Gio Ponti Dining Chairs for Singer & Sons Set of Six
About the Item
- Creator:M. Singer & Sons (Designer),Gio Ponti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 32 in (81.28 cm)Width: 22 in (55.88 cm)Depth: 22 in (55.88 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 6
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1950
- Condition:very good, restored.
- Seller Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:
M. Singer & Sons
New York furniture manufacturer M. Singer & Sons is well known to collectors of dazzling mid-century modern design — the company played an integral role in introducing Italian furniture masters to the American marketplace and introduced striking dining room tables, lounge chairs and dressers that were created in rich woods and met the day’s growing demand for sleek and simple furnishings.
While M. Singer & Sons had been offering upholstered furniture out of its storefront in downtown Manhattan in as early as 1923, it is today widely recognized for the alluring tables, seating and other designs of the postwar era.
M. Singer & Sons rose to prominence in the 1950s. A boom in prosperity followed World War II, and new homeowners all over the United States were seeking modern furniture to move into their living rooms and dining rooms. This yielded a heyday of innovation, and the likes of Herman Miller, Knoll and other furniture manufacturers of the era endeavored to position themselves as leaders in the space. M. Singer & Sons was no different, and the company’s success over the subsequent decade can be credited to Joe Singer, who was then steering the ship.
Singer saw how important it was to offer furnishings in a style that broke from the bulky and overly ornamental pieces that characterized interiors in the previous century — M. Singer & Sons would need to manufacture streamlined storage cabinets, low-profile coffee tables and practical but comfortable seating that didn’t occupy lots of real estate.
It was thanks to his quest for modernist furniture that Singer discovered legendary polymath Gio Ponti, arguably the most influential figure in 20th-century Italian modernism.
Singer reached out to Ponti and offered a partnership for M. Singer & Sons to bring the Milanese designer’s work to America. He created elegant armchairs, sideboards set on tapered legs and more for the company. At the same time, Singer struck up a collaboration with Bertha Schaefer, an acclaimed Mississippi-born interior decorator and the owner of an important Manhattan art gallery at the time Schaefer, an enthusiast of Bauhaus design, would go on to create sculptural walnut desks, angular seating framed in mahogany and other pieces for the brand. With conceptual input from Ponti, she developed a furniture line called Modern by Singer.
The new collection — which merged the alluring forms and materials associated with Italian modernism and quality American manufacturing — was an instant success for M. Singer & Sons. Smooth lines, exceptional hardwoods and luxurious finishes lent the line a high-end feel and spurred demand.
A Schaefer-designed nesting table from the Modern by Singer line was included in 1952’s “Good Design” exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, which featured work from the likes of George Nelson, Paul McCobb, Jens Risom and others.
M. Singer & Sons introduced Ponti to an American audience, and he, in turn, introduced the company chairman to Italian designers like Ico Parisi and Carlo Mollino. These relationships also developed into successful collaborations that helped cement M. Singer & Sons' presence and prominence in modern American furniture.
Today, M. Singer & Sons’ designs by Schaefer and its stable of Italian designers are coveted and collected all over the world.
Find vintage M. Singer & Sons furniture on 1stDibs.
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Chicago, IL
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 1 day of delivery.
- Set of Six Edward Wormley for Dunbar Curved-Back Dining ChairsBy Edward Wormley, Dunbar FurnitureLocated in Chicago, ILSet of Six Edward Wormley for Dunbar Curved-Back Dining Chairs, Model 4580 without arms and Model 4581 arm chairs, Features solid mahogany frames with cane backs and original leather...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Cane, Mahogany
- Walter Knoll Low-Back Oxford Dining Chairs Set of SixBy Walter KnollLocated in Chicago, ILWalter Knoll Low-Back Oxford Chairs Set of Six Two with Arms Four Armless features five star bases in aluminum. Swivel with adjustable heights. Newly upholstered with Spinneybeck Tan...Category
Vintage 1950s German Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsAluminum
- Fratelli Mariani Di Lacceri set of Six Dining ChairsBy Ico ParisiLocated in Chicago, ILFratelli Mariani Di Lacceri set of Six Dining Chairs, Restored Itailian Walnut frames in black lacquer with matte finish, seats replaced with knottier boucle underside label intact ...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsFabric, Walnut
- Pair of Six Dining Chairs by J. Stuart Clingman for WiddicombBy Widdicomb Furniture Co.Located in Chicago, ILPair of Six Dining Chairs by J. Stuart Clingman for Widdicomb. The chairs are made of solid mahogany wood with a lacquer finish and feature brass spacer details. They have been reuph...Category
Vintage 1950s American Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsBrass
- Marcel Breuer B64 Cesca Dining Chairs with Arms set of SixBy Knoll, Marcel BreuerLocated in Chicago, ILMarcel Breuer B64 Cesca Dining Chairs with Arms set of Six, Italy, the 1970s production. Seat height 18Category
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Edward Wormley for Dunbar Caned Back Dining Chairs Set of TenBy Edward WormleyLocated in Chicago, ILEdward Wormley for Dunbar caned back dining chairs set of ten, Model 6328 with newly upholstered seats in cotton velvet by Great Plains, Mahogany fram...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsCane, Velvet, Walnut
- Set of Four Chairs, model 211 by Gio Ponti for Singer & SonsBy M. Singer & Sons, Gio PontiLocated 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 Four #116 Dining Chairs by Gio PontiBy M. Singer & Sons, Gio PontiLocated in San Francisco, CAA set of #116 Dining Chairs in walnut, with original rush seats by Gio Ponti for M Singer & Sons of New York.Category
Vintage 1950s Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsRush, Walnut
- 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 Six Italian Ladder Back Dining Chairs after Gio PontiBy Gio PontiLocated in Peabody, MASet of six Italian ladder back dining chairs with woven rush seats in the manner of Gio Ponti, imported in the 1960s from the Chiavari region by Otto Gerdau.Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsRush, Wood
- A rare set of Gio Ponti dining chairs.By Gio PontiLocated in New York, NYManufacturer: Cassina model #601 Date made: circa 1950 Material: walnut and fabric Size: 17.5”w x 20”d x 34”h Country: Italy Literature: Gio Ponti. Ugo La Pietra. Rizzoli Milan...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWalnut
- Set of six dining chairs attributed to Gio Ponti, Italy 1940sBy Gio PontiLocated in Milan, ITA sublime set of six high-back dining chairs in Oakwood and white Bouclè upholstery. Attributed to the work of Gio Ponti. Beautiful construction and wood details. Reminiscent of Gio...Category
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Oak
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.