Gio Ponti & Fornasetti “110” Chairs for Cassina, White Velvet, 1953, Set of 6
Description
Gio Ponti & Piero Fornasetti "110" dining chairs for Cassina, wood, white velvet and brass, 1953, set of six.
Designed by Gio Ponti and Piero Fornasetti for Cassina in 1953, the model "110" dining chairs belong to a body of work that defined the aesthetic ambitions of Italian design in the decade following the war. Ponti's collaboration with Cassina — which began in earnest in the early 1950s and would culminate in the "Superleggera" of 1957 — was rooted in a shared pursuit of structural essentiality: the chair as a drawn line, not a built object. The "110" reflects that pursuit with particular clarity. The frame is carved into four tapered legs that narrow to brass sabots, a detail at once functional and ceremonial, recalling the refined finishing habits of the Milanese cabinet-making tradition. The open arms describe a gentle forward arc before meeting the front legs, leaving the construction entirely readable from every angle — a transparency that was central to Ponti's thinking about furniture as architecture at reduced scale.
The back panel is set slightly proud of the rear uprights and upholstered in velvet matching the generously proportioned seat cushion, while the horizontal stretcher connecting the rear legs adds a discreet note of tension to an otherwise serene composition.
Dimensions
Height: 33.86 in (86 cm)
Width: 22.25 in (56.5 cm)
Depth: 21.26 in (54 cm)
Seat Height: 19.3 in (49 cm)
Design
1953
Manufacture
1950-1959
Material
Wood, velvet, brass
Location
Lonigo, IT
Condition
Our atelier carefully restored and reupholstered the chairs, with attention to structural integrity, materials, and finish. The process was guided by deep respect for its authenticity, balancing technical intervention and historical sensitivity.