.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
Two Ponti Armchairs, Produced by Cassina: Technical-stylistic Examination and Dating
The curvilinear ash frame of the present lounge chair for the Hotel Parco dei Principi's takes us back to the early 1950s, when Ponti was influenced by an “organic” style. From 1956 onward, Ponti's designs are marked by formal abstraction. It is unthinkable that in 1964 he would make an uncommon and outmoded return to the organic style, without at least referring to his original limited model.
For some time, Ponti used to take up works from his previous endless repertoire.
A well-known example of this kind of recovery and refinement, is the Cassina “heavy” chair (1951) which later became “Leggera” (1954) and then ultimatly became “Superleggera” (1957). The “Superleggera” was chosen years later by Ponti for the Hotel Parco dei Principi, in Rome (1964), a popular destination among American tourists searching to experience the same atmosphere depicted in the movie La Dolce Vita. Ponti had already designed for Cassina a complete line of furniture for the Hotel. Yet, when it came to flanking the “Superleggera” (a true icon which bears witness of the great Italian skills in the field of mass-produced design) with another high-backed armchair, he did not choose of any of his existing models.
This was the right opportunity to achieve his idea of an armchair of visual contrast. The armchairs are an invitation to absolute relaxation with the same reclined backrest as seen in the Distex Lounge chair but also an impetus towards movement, as the ground supports are shaped like the heels of a racing thoroughbred. Aware of the huge and intense use that hotel guests would make of the chair, Ponti and Cassina decided to reduce the width of its armrests at the critical point, and to add a reinforcing and barely visible triangular support under the area of greatest pressure, the spot at which people were standing up or sinking down.
An aspiration and achievement, that only a great master could develop and attain.
- Laura Falconi
During restoration, a layer of red color emerged from underneath the brown paint, as part of the same process used by Cassina to emphasize the raven color of the chairs (“Superleggera”, 1957) and armchairs. The label on the back of one of the two armchairs under examination (which is no longer visible on the second example, except for some small traces of paper) corresponds with the original types of that period, as confirmed by Cassina’s Historical Archives. The lag bolt used in the joinery of the seat to the frame corresponds with the National Unified Standards (UNI), which were in force during the period from 1945 to 1964. In that decade, Ponti and his former students, Carlo De Carli and Gianfranco Frattini, used identical elements and similar brass finish in the Cassina production. However, by the early 1980s, the company no longer possessed records of the hundreds of specimens designed by Ponti (the Historical Archives was established much later).
The curvilinear ash frame of the present lounge chair for the Hotel Parco dei Principi's takes us back to the early 1950s, when Ponti was influenced by an “organic” style. From 1956 onward, Ponti's designs are marked by formal abstraction. It is unthinkable that in 1964 he would make an uncommon and outmoded return to the organic style, without at least referring to his original limited model.
For some time, Ponti used to take up works from his previous endless repertoire.
A well-known example of this kind of recovery and refinement, is the Cassina “heavy” chair (1951) which later became “Leggera” (1954) and then ultimatly became “Superleggera” (1957). The “Superleggera” was chosen years later by Ponti for the Hotel Parco dei Principi, in Rome (1964), a popular destination among American tourists searching to experience the same atmosphere depicted in the movie La Dolce Vita. Ponti had already designed for Cassina a complete line of furniture for the Hotel. Yet, when it came to flanking the “Superleggera” (a true icon which bears witness of the great Italian skills in the field of mass-produced design) with another high-backed armchair, he did not choose of any of his existing models.
This was the right opportunity to achieve his idea of an armchair of visual contrast. The armchairs are an invitation to absolute relaxation with the same reclined backrest as seen in the Distex Lounge chair but also an impetus towards movement, as the ground supports are shaped like the heels of a racing thoroughbred. Aware of the huge and intense use that hotel guests would make of the chair, Ponti and Cassina decided to reduce the width of its armrests at the critical point, and to add a reinforcing and barely visible triangular support under the area of greatest pressure, the spot at which people were standing up or sinking down.
An aspiration and achievement, that only a great master could develop and attain.
- Laura Falconi
During restoration, a layer of red color emerged from underneath the brown paint, as part of the same process used by Cassina to emphasize the raven color of the chairs (“Superleggera”, 1957) and armchairs. The label on the back of one of the two armchairs under examination (which is no longer visible on the second example, except for some small traces of paper) corresponds with the original types of that period, as confirmed by Cassina’s Historical Archives. The lag bolt used in the joinery of the seat to the frame corresponds with the National Unified Standards (UNI), which were in force during the period from 1945 to 1964. In that decade, Ponti and his former students, Carlo De Carli and Gianfranco Frattini, used identical elements and similar brass finish in the Cassina production. However, by the early 1980s, the company no longer possessed records of the hundreds of specimens designed by Ponti (the Historical Archives was established much later).