Gio Ponti - Design London Monday, April 28, 2014 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    ‘Augustus’ transatlantic ocean liner, Italy, 1950

  • Literature

    Paolo Piccione, Gio Ponti Le Navi: il progetto degli interni navali 1948-1953, Milan, 2007, p. 33, fig. 41

  • Artist Biography

    Gio Ponti

    Italian • 1891 - 1979

    Among the most prolific talents to grace twentieth-century design, Gio Ponti defied categorization. Though trained as an architect, he made major contributions to the decorative arts, designing in such disparate materials as ceramics, glass, wood and metal. A gale force of interdisciplinary creativity, Ponti embraced new materials like plastic and aluminum but employed traditional materials such as marble and wood in original, unconventional ways.

    In the industrial realm, he designed buildings, cars, machinery and appliances — notably, the La Cornuta espresso machine for La Pavoni — and founded the ADI (Industrial Designer Association). Among the most special works by Gio Ponti are those that he made in collaboration with master craftsmen such as the cabinetmaker Giordano Chiesa, the illustrator Piero Fornasetti and the enamellist Paolo de Poli.

    View More Works

189

Pair of armchairs, designed for the First Class Ballroom of the ‘Augustus’ transatlantic ocean liner

1950
Fabric, stained teak.
Each: 73.3 x 73.5 x 74.7 cm (28 7/8 x 28 7/8 x 29 3/8 in.)
Manufactured by Cassina, Italy. Together with a certificate of authenticity from the Gio Ponti Archives.

Estimate
£8,000 - 12,000 

Sold for £47,500

Contact Specialist
Ben Williams
Senior Specialist, Head of Sale
bwilliams@phillips.com
+44 207 318 4027

Design

London Auction 29 April 2014 2pm