Ponti Inspired Coffee Table  

@mark737

I think the table is not only inspired by Ponti, it's a real (attributed) Ponti, but some idiot destroyed the glass top and installed another (too big!) one.

Btw "attributed", reportedly the authenticity has been confirmed by an expertise:

https://www.incollect.com/listings/furniture/tables/gio-ponti-gio-ponti-coffee-table-in-ash-and-glass-top-291860

@mvc Thanks, I would love to find out it's a real Ponti design but it doesn't match up to the Domus Nova ones I've looked at.  The height (46 cm) is a match but my table is about 49 cm deep, most of the DN tables are 44-46 cm deep.  And then there are the two cross supports that hold the top - none of the "real" ones have those.  And none I looked at mentioned any marks or stenciled numbers on the bottom.  And finally, the quality seems more American than Italian to me. But again, I would love to be proven wrong.    

Well, the difference in dimensions cannot be denied, but the two cross supports could have been additionally installed by the idiot.

I think the two stenciled numbers on the bottom can be neglected, they seems to me irrelevant in the question of whether the table is real or not.

@mark737

Where did you measure the depth? If on the top, the size could have been changed by the idiot while installing the cross supports. 

Btw who the buck is Domus Nova?

@mvc  I measured the depth from edge to edge of the wood base and it's 48.5 cm.  If it had a glass top, the glass would be 46-46.25 deep, since it sits inside the wood frame.  Do you think the sellers who list the depth as 45 or 46 cm are measuring the glass or total depth?  

Upon further research , Domus Nova (new home) , was the name of the collection Ponti and Lancia designed for the Milan department store La Rinascente in 1927  That's what I get for relying on seller info. It was designed to be modestly priced for the middle class (6000 lira for four rooms - about $4500 US adjusted for inflation) .  There's a good summary here:

http://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/opere-arte/schede/5q030-00023/

@mark737

Exactly, Domus Nova seems just to be the name of the collection Ponti and Lancia designed for the store La Rinascente, but there was no company Domus Nova, only a journal founded by Ponti in the 20s or 30s called Domus. 

I suppose, "made by Domus Nova" is just another fairy tale on the net.

Usually the sellers are measuring the total depth, only the glass depth would make no sense. 

And if you measure the bottom base, from leg to leg, then also 48.5 cm?

Mark, you probably already checked the Gio Ponti archives but for those who have not, it is worth browsing through. 

@mark737

However, one detail irritates me, the frames of all Ponti tables on the net have radiused edges, but yours not.

your table

@mvc  Yes, the depth is also 48.5 cm at the lower section.  And your observation of the difference in the edges goes to my feeling that the overall quality is of a lower tier.

@minimoma  Thanks for the reminder about the Ponti archives - an amazing resource I have used in the past but hadn't looked at for this question.  I just spent an embarrassing amount of time on there and came away with a couple of observations.  First, the archives include photos of the Domus Nova collection (which included a dining room, family room and two bedrooms) and the only coffee table is very different from the one we are discussing.  So, my take away is that this table is not from the 1927 Domus Nova collection. 

I went back and looked at some of the so-called  "Domus Nova" glass top tables  and found this one, which states that the table is documented in "Gio Ponti: Le Navi: il progetto degli interninavali 1948-1953"  (The ships: the naval interior project 1948-1953). 

https://massmoderndesign.com/gallery-detail/gio-ponti-domus-nova-coffee-table-italy-1950/

Looking through the archives at some of the ships Ponti furnished I found this photo from the Conte Biancamano that appears to be the table in question, though it's hard to be certain with the poor image quality.  If so, do you think these glass tables came from this ship, or do you think they produced additional versions and sold them in stores like La Rinascente? I read that the ship was taken out of service and stripped in 1961.

That appears absolutely to be the table in question, for sure, great Mark!

Me too I saw the picture of the ship furniture, but I didn't recognize the table! 😎 

One of the ships Gio Ponti worked on was the Andrea Doria which sank near the coast of Massachusetts back in 1956 if I remember it right.  So if the cold water of the Atlantic Ocean had preserved some, there could be remnants of the Ponti designed furniture in the shipwreck.

Then the question now arises, who could be interested in copying the table if Mark's version is not the original, because the table was certainly not a best-seller, even though it is ambitious designed.
Second, who manufactured the original?

This is actually a job for @lexi, our chief archaeologist. 😎