Gio Ponti - Design London Wednesday, November 2, 2022 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Giordano Chiesa, Milan
    Thence by descent to the present owner

  • Literature

    The following references are for the ceramic version of the sculptures in a wall light:
    'Considerazioni su alcuni mobili', Domus, no. 243, February 1950, pp. 26-27
    'Chiarezza, unità, visibilità totale negli uffici modernissimi', Domus, no. 270, May 1952, p. 27
    Ugo La Pietra, ed., Gio Ponti: L’arte si innamora dell’industria, New York, 2009, pp. 158, 195
    Salvatore Licitra et al., Gio Ponti, Cologne, 2021, pp. 236-37

  • Catalogue Essay

    The present prototype sculptures comprising three embellished obelisks and one hand with the Vembi-Burroughs logo were subsequently executed in ceramic, to be placed inside wall lights.

  • 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.

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Property from a Milanese Estate

25

Four prototype sculptures

circa 1950
Painted wood.
Tallest: 51.5 x 8 x 6.1 cm (20 1/4 x 3 1/8 x 2 3/8 in.)
Executed by Giordano Chiesa, Milan, Italy. Together with a certificate of expertise from the Gio Ponti Archives.

Estimate
£2,000 - 3,000 

Sold for £17,640

Contact Specialist

Antonia King
Head of Sale, Design
+44 20 7901 7944
Antonia.King@phillips.com

Design

London Auction 2 November 2022