GIO PONTI (1891 - 1979) Shark

signed ‘Gio Ponti’, silver marks ‘800’, numbered ‘12’ (inside) silver 33.5 × 4 cm Giovanni «Gio» Ponti was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher. During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti built more than a hundred buildings in Italy and in the rest of the world. He designed a considerable number of decorative art and design objects as well as furniture. In the 1920s, Ponti began numerous collaborations, notably with the silverware company Christofle, the glassmakers Venini and Fontana Arte. Ponti designed unique pieces of furniture for specific interiors, and encouraged the promotion of quality series production. Ponti played a major role in the modernization of Italian decorative arts.