Gio Ponti: Solid silver shark

Signed, silver hallmark

Dimensions: 33.5 × 4 cm

signed 'Gio Ponti', silver hallmark '800', numbered '12' (inside) silver

Giovanni "Gio" Ponti was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher. During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti constructed more than a hundred buildings in Italy and around the world. He designed a considerable number of decorative art and design objects as well as furniture. In the 1920s, Ponti began numerous collaborations, notably with the silverware company Christofle, the glassmakers Venini and Fontana Arte. Ponti designed unique furniture for specific interiors and encouraged the promotion of quality mass production. Ponti played a major role in the modernization of Italian decorative arts.