Wood, brass and vinyl upholstery
Italy, 1953
Gio Ponti (1891-1979)
Manufactured by Cassina
Mid-century Modern
Deep angular lounge chairs with flanged arm rests and splayed legs with brass sabots
Distex model with brass feet
“Gio Ponti: The Complete Work 1923-1978”, Lisa Licitra Ponti, p 151, 166
Each chair: 33” x 28” x 39 ½” (height x width x depth)
Good condition

These Distex lounge chairs exemplify 1950s Italian style. Retaining the original green and cream two-tone vinyl upholstery, each chair is raised on four splayed wood legs with the unusual added feature of brass sabots. They are both simultaneously streamlined and yet decorative.

Gio Ponti was a prolific designer and one of the most significant in the area of Italian modern design. His chairs are amongst his most noteworthy designs and these examples bear many of the hallmarks of Ponti’s design sensibility.

The Ponti chairs are in good vintage condition, but would benefit from re-upholstery. Each chair measures 33” x 28” x 39 ½” (height x width x depth).

Gio Ponti (1891-1979)

Gio Ponti was an Italian architect, designer, and journalist. Born in Milan, Ponti studied architecture from the Politecnico di Milano University. Disregarding the boundaries between the fields of art and design, Ponti designed architectural structures, commercial products, furniture, vascular formations and sculptures. Ponti served as artistic director of Ginori from 1923-1930, where he produced many outstanding porcelain objects. In 1950, he won, along with Pier Luigi Nervi and Arturo Danusso, the commission to design the Pirelli Tower in Milan. Ponti also designed the Denver Art Museum, the coffee machine for La Paconi and the “Superleggera” chair for Cassina. As a prolific designer, he obtained the Accademia d’Italia Art Prize, a gold metal from the Paris Academie d’Architecture and a Doctorate from the London Royal College of Art.