Gio Ponti Grid Pattern Coffee Table circa 1945-1948
About the Item
- Creator:Gio Ponti (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 17.75 in (45.09 cm)Diameter: 51 in (129.54 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1945-1948
- Condition:Minor fading. Original Condition. Minor marks on wood and minor scratches on glass top.
- Seller Location:Encino, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: U1101178813138
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: Encino, CA
- Return PolicyThis item cannot be returned.
- Blasset & Guggiari Coffee Table, 1950Located in Encino, CABlasset Jean & Guggiari André: Worked for Chanaux & Jean Michel Frank. France, circa 1950s. Very unique coffee table in gilt iron and glass. The interior frame of the table, under the top, the rings and the bases of the legs have been posteriorly painted in black. We can definitely reverse it to the original condition, on demand. Literature: Mobilier N.8 November 1957 in an article titled " Promenade autour d'un appartement". According to the writer, René Chavance, who was probably the most popular Art...Category
Vintage 1950s French Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsIron
- Quinet & Poillerat Wrought Iron Coffee TableBy Jacques Quinet, Gilbert PoilleratLocated in Encino, CAJacques Quinet (1918-1992) & Gilbert Poillerat (1902-1988). Exceptional wrought iron coffee table with a beige marble top, and four flower-like designs in gilt metal, located in e...Category
Vintage 1940s French Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble, Wrought Iron
- Pair of Travertine and Iron Coffee Tables, France, 1950Located in Encino, CAPresumably unique - Pair of square wrought iron coffee tables with travertine tops. Originally these come from a set of six that were ...Category
20th Century European Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsTravertine, Iron
- Gae Aulenti for Fontana Arte Glass Coffee Table with WheelsLocated in Encino, CAGae Aulenti for Fontana Arte glass coffee table with black lacquered rubber wheels. Thick crystal top mounted on four black lacquered ...Category
1990s Italian Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsCut Glass
- Maison Charles Coffee Table in Bronze with a Travertine Top, 1950By Maison Charles et FilsLocated in Encino, CAMaison Charles, circa 1960s This very elegant Maison Charles coffee table is in its original condition; It has a gilt bronze, palm trunk motif frame and a beautiful travertine top...Category
Vintage 1950s French Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsTravertine, Brass, Bronze
- Maison Charles Coffee Table in Bronze with a Travertine Top, 1960Located in Encino, CAMaison Charles, circa 1960s This very elegant Maison Charles coffee table is in its original condition; It has a gilt bronze, palm trunk motif frame and a beautiful dark brown lac...Category
Vintage 1960s French Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsTravertine, Bronze
- Vintage GIO PONTI Style Grid Pattern Coffee Table With Paddle LegsBy Gio PontiLocated in Monrovia, CAThis Is A Vintage GIO PONTI Style Grid Pattern Coffee Table With Paddle Like Legs. This Is 1 Of 2 That We Bought From An Estate Approximately 25 Years Ago. The Photos Show The Gorgeo...Category
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- Gio Ponti Travertine Coffee TableBy Gio Ponti, M. Singer & SonsLocated in Highland, INSublime mid-century Italian design at its best, this coffee table by Gio Ponti by Singer & Son features a stunning piece of travertine marble supported by an Italian walnut base with...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsTravertine
- Vintage GIO PONTI Style Lattice Pattern With Paddle Legs Coffee TableBy Gio PontiLocated in Monrovia, CAVintage GIO PONTI Style Lattice Pattern With Paddle Legs Coffee Table. This Is A Vintage GIO PONTI Style Lattice Pattern Coffee Table With Paddle Legs. This Is 2 Of 2 That We Bought ...Category
Late 20th Century Unknown Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWood
- Gio Ponti Attr. Italian Sculptural Coffee TableBy Gio PontiLocated in New York, NYGio Ponti attributed Italian sculptural walnut coffee table.Category
Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsWalnut, Glass
- Gio Ponti Coffee Table for Fontana ArteBy Fontana Arte, Gio PontiLocated in Sag Harbor, NYSimple, elegant and functional coffee or cocktail table. Suspended on tapered brass legs are two levels of glass. Designed by Gio Ponti and manufactured by Fontana Arte ca. 1955. Gla...Category
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsBrass
- Gio Ponti 'Parco dei Principi' Coffee TableBy Gio Ponti, CassinaLocated in Waalwijk, NLGio Ponti for Parco dei Principi Hotel in Rome, produced by Cassina, coffee table, green marble, anodised aluminum, Italy, 1961-1964 The provenance of this coffee table is notably i...Category
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsMarble, Aluminum
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.