Gio Ponti - Design London Tuesday, October 31, 2023 | Phillips
  • Provenance

    Private collection, Milan, gifted directly by the artist
    Thence by descent

  • Catalogue Essay

    The present lot was gifted directly by Gio Ponti to a Milanese gentleman and colleague of his during his time as editor of the art and design publication Domus.

  • 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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5

'Arlecchini'

circa 1955
Oil on panel, in two parts, in artist's frame.
43 x 35.4 x 8 cm (16 7/8 x 13 7/8 x 3 1/8 in.) framed
Each panel signed PONTI lower right. Together with a certificate of expertise from the Gio Ponti Archives.

Estimate
£8,000 - 12,000 ‡♠

Sold for £10,160

Contact Specialist

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

 

Design

London Auction 31 October 2023