An important desk, from Casa Ceccato, Milan, 1949

The Ceccato family of Milan were amongst the few private clients fortunate to commission Gio Ponti to design and execute a series of interiors. Owners of the Dulciora confectionary empire, the Ceccatos invited Ponti to furnish and decorate their apartment on via Monferrato, Milan, their central Milan showroom, and to provide a further suite of furniture for Mr. Ceccato's office. The scheme that Ponti created for their apartment, the Casa Ceccato, 1949-1950, introduced the concept of fitted dashboard walls and extensive decorative surface panelling, primarily through the use of burl walnut veneer accented with polished brass details, that was to evolve as a signature aesthetic over the following years. Piero Fornasetti and Edina Altara were also to collaborate with Ponti to deliver additional detail and decoration, establishing the Casa Ceccato as one of the most universal of Ponti private commissions of the early 1950s. The present desk, of elegant form and aerodynamic profile, is amongst the earliest of its type and is recorded in archive photographs of the Casa Ceccato.