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Lot Essay
Gio Ponti was an architect with a fancy for ceramics. It should be said straightaway: being an architect was only one activity that defined this polymath. In his early years he was too busy with ceramics to delve into significant architectural endeavours. Yet, at some point he began expanding his practice to the most diverse aspects of design from skyscrapers to tables and teaspoons, while researching and promoting the full range of his own and his contemporaries’ achievements among his peers and the public.
Indeed in April 1925 Ponti debuted his Richard-Ginori majolica ceramics and porcelains in Paris, at the now landmark Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. He had been art director of Ginori for only two years, beginning in 1923; and the 32 years old architect had yet to build. At Ginori his pent-up architectural energies were channeled into creating an endless array of ersatz architectural spaces populated with stylized Mannerist figures. His amalgam of classical antique motifs with Italian 16th century architecture are spread across undefined spaces. What is indoors or outdoors is not delineated, which may hint at a liminal condition.
Unlike Metaphysical paintings à la Giorgio de Chirico, his decorative schemes are rather light and joyful while often relying on comparable imagery. As noted by the significant Italian Modern Art patron and critic Margherita Sarfatti: Ponti's ceramics exhibit " an acute touch of satire, a very Italian and modern caricatural extravagance that adds flavor without altering the line. A classicism not taken seriously"( M. Sarfatti, Ceramiche, Milano, 1923).
Amongst all the "Novecento" style ceramics, deftly arrayed throughout the Paris Ginori pavilion, there was one significant outlier: an Asian inspired fish sculpture. Rendered in fine white porcelain with hand burnished golden waves, it was signed by the artisan underneath near the manufacturer's marks. In the later recollections of Ponti, the highly-skilled craftspeople at Ginori were always mentioned by name, his token of gratitude towards them. Placed on the highest shelf towards the back, the sculpture functioned as a beacon which surely could not go unnoticed: It was the only white monochrome object amongst a rich, colourful proliferation of ceramics across the room.
Ponti derived this singular motif from Chinese and Japanese precedents and modelled it in the shape of a carp cresting on lively ocean waves. It has been noted, at the Ginori Archives in the Doccia Museum, that there was there were piles of Japanese woodcuts that were routinely used to stimulate and inspire creative team. Undoubtedly Ponti would have seen the woodcuts of Hokusai as well as both Chinese and Japanese bronzes and porcelains depicting this key symbol in several parts of Asia. The carp represents endurance and achievement as it swims against the currents, hence its connection with abundance, good luck, and success in life.
Perhaps Ponti became aware of having created such an auspicious object, soon after his whole display in the Richard Ginori pavilion won him the Grand Prix at the 1925 Paris Expo. This award was certainly a turning point for the young Milanese architect as his trajectory clearly changed: he suddenly expanded his practice towards architecture, cultural criticism, publishing, and most aspects of industrial design. Beyond ceramics he started working with glass, metal and textiles, and turned his attention to lighting and furniture. After 1925 he never seemed to forget the good fortune granted him by the carp and kept a sustained interest in Asian cultures that culminated in his vast Celadon works of 1930.
Brian Kish, November 2025
Brian Kish is an art historian, curator, specialist in 20th Century Italian Architecture and Design, and senior consultant to the Gio Ponti Archives, since 2006.
Indeed in April 1925 Ponti debuted his Richard-Ginori majolica ceramics and porcelains in Paris, at the now landmark Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. He had been art director of Ginori for only two years, beginning in 1923; and the 32 years old architect had yet to build. At Ginori his pent-up architectural energies were channeled into creating an endless array of ersatz architectural spaces populated with stylized Mannerist figures. His amalgam of classical antique motifs with Italian 16th century architecture are spread across undefined spaces. What is indoors or outdoors is not delineated, which may hint at a liminal condition.
Unlike Metaphysical paintings à la Giorgio de Chirico, his decorative schemes are rather light and joyful while often relying on comparable imagery. As noted by the significant Italian Modern Art patron and critic Margherita Sarfatti: Ponti's ceramics exhibit " an acute touch of satire, a very Italian and modern caricatural extravagance that adds flavor without altering the line. A classicism not taken seriously"( M. Sarfatti, Ceramiche, Milano, 1923).
Amongst all the "Novecento" style ceramics, deftly arrayed throughout the Paris Ginori pavilion, there was one significant outlier: an Asian inspired fish sculpture. Rendered in fine white porcelain with hand burnished golden waves, it was signed by the artisan underneath near the manufacturer's marks. In the later recollections of Ponti, the highly-skilled craftspeople at Ginori were always mentioned by name, his token of gratitude towards them. Placed on the highest shelf towards the back, the sculpture functioned as a beacon which surely could not go unnoticed: It was the only white monochrome object amongst a rich, colourful proliferation of ceramics across the room.
Ponti derived this singular motif from Chinese and Japanese precedents and modelled it in the shape of a carp cresting on lively ocean waves. It has been noted, at the Ginori Archives in the Doccia Museum, that there was there were piles of Japanese woodcuts that were routinely used to stimulate and inspire creative team. Undoubtedly Ponti would have seen the woodcuts of Hokusai as well as both Chinese and Japanese bronzes and porcelains depicting this key symbol in several parts of Asia. The carp represents endurance and achievement as it swims against the currents, hence its connection with abundance, good luck, and success in life.
Perhaps Ponti became aware of having created such an auspicious object, soon after his whole display in the Richard Ginori pavilion won him the Grand Prix at the 1925 Paris Expo. This award was certainly a turning point for the young Milanese architect as his trajectory clearly changed: he suddenly expanded his practice towards architecture, cultural criticism, publishing, and most aspects of industrial design. Beyond ceramics he started working with glass, metal and textiles, and turned his attention to lighting and furniture. After 1925 he never seemed to forget the good fortune granted him by the carp and kept a sustained interest in Asian cultures that culminated in his vast Celadon works of 1930.
Brian Kish, November 2025
Brian Kish is an art historian, curator, specialist in 20th Century Italian Architecture and Design, and senior consultant to the Gio Ponti Archives, since 2006.