Whenever he was given free rein to create, Italian architect Gio Ponti would deliver a Gesamtkunstwerk (total work of art), taking care of every element with a mix of rigour and humour that came to define his work. Using colour and geometry, he would tell a complete story that encompassed architecture, furniture and décor.
To celebrate his legacy, Molteni & C has launched a new collection of objects that honours Ponti’s small-scale work, and the way he was able to blend irony and history into his pieces.
Molteni&C unveils Gio Ponti Objects
‘7 Tubi’ vase/candleholder, £1,100
(Image credit: Photography: Neil Godwin. Art Direction: Sophie Gladstone)
Over the years, Molteni&C’s ongoing partnership with the Gio Ponti Archives has delivered some exquisite Ponti reissues, including armchairs and tables. Taking this collaboration down to a more intimate scale seemed like the next step, explains Francesca Molteni, who works with her family’s company as well as being an independent curator and filmmaker. ‘After more than ten years of collaboration with Ponti’s heirs on the reissue of his furniture, it seemed natural to continue the work of enhancing his design legacy, exploring an extraordinarily evocative part of his oeuvre: objects,’ she says.
The eight-piece collection, faithfully reproduced from the Gio Ponti Archives, features classic Ponti motifs: animals, hands and geometries in stainless steel and wood. These objects are ‘veritable microcosms of his architectural ideas, characterised by a profound artisanal and design value,’ says Molteni. ‘Each object, whether sculptural or functional, reflects the interplay of geometry and spatial reinterpretation that defined his work. These are objects capable of sparking the imagination, evoking memories, and bringing beauty to everyday gestures. They are poetic instruments that reflect Ponti’s belief that even the domestic dimension can become a theatre of fantasy.’
The ‘Gio Ponti Objects’ collection includes an origami-like horse and two doves, masterfully recreated in metal and reflecting Ponti’s ability to shape entire worlds from simple materials. Also made of stainless steel is ‘La Mano’, a hand motif that Ponti used throughout his career in drawings and sculptures. The starting point of its design is a freehand drawing made by the architect, in response to which silversmith Lino Sabattini sculpted an object that recreated the playful six-fingered hand.
‘Pompei’, a sculptural composition of interconnected stainless steel tubes that can be used as a vase or a candleholder, £1,250
(Image credit: Photography: Neil Godwin. Art Direction: Sophie Gladstone)
‘The hand embodies the mimicry of error, an impossible hand in honour of fantasy, while remaining the symbol of human measure and expression, of concrete intervention and creation,’ says Molteni.
Among the collection’s functional objects are ‘7 Tubi’ (seven tubes) and ‘Pompei’, two stainless steel designs that can be used as vases or candleholders, and the ‘Architettura’ tray, based on the hexagonal module that often served as the starting point for Ponti’s architectural blueprints. It signals his mission to bring architecture into all facets of daily life, and this domestic object calls to mind Milan’s Pirelli skyscraper, one of Ponti’s most memorable and impactful designs.
The collection also veers towards the theatrical with a series of wooden bottle sculptures, originally created as part of a scenography and reproduced in ash and robinia. Completing the set is ‘Bucchero’, an Etruscan-inspired object made using a rare clay-firing technique. ‘The vessel, with its shiny black material, handcrafted using an ancient Etruscan technique, connects the ancient to the modern, representing Ponti’s ability to reinvent the past with a contemporary spirit,’ adds Molteni.
‘As you journey through 60 years of Gio Ponti’s creativity, it may happen that the seemingly chaotic, kaleidoscopic wealth of his creative universe suddenly reveals itself as a balanced and clear whole, where every element responds to a single vision’
Salvatore Licitra
The collection was assembled with the help of Salvatore Licitra, Gio Ponti’s grandson and the keeper of his creative legacy. ‘As you journey through 60 years of Gio Ponti’s creativity, it may happen that the seemingly chaotic, kaleidoscopic wealth of his creative universe suddenly reveals itself as a balanced and clear whole, where every element responds to a single vision,’ he says.
‘It is a vast landscape, which embraces architecture, interiors, façades, materials, decor, colours, fabrics, ceramics, metals, wood, glass. Within this harmonious tableau, […] we’ll find objects that promote a new way of life, vibrant domestic sentinels, tools to be kept close at hand, ready to set the stage for the theatre of imagination, across space and time. These are objects that are both beautiful and impossible.’
See molteni.it for your nearest store or shop online in the USA at shop.molteni.it
A version of this article appears in the December 2025 Entertaining Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News + from 6 November. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today
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