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"La passeggiata archeologica (An Archeological Stroll)" Covered Urn

Designer Gio Ponti Italian
Manufacturer Manifattura Richard Ginori Italian
1925
Not on view
Although Ponti was a committed modernist, his work always maintained a respect for tradition and history. Among his earliest projects was a series of porcelain vases designed for Richard-Ginori, for whom he worked as artistic director from 1923 to 1930. These pieces, intended to be mass-produced, were all designed on the theme of classicism-the national patrimony of Italy. This model, entitled An Archaeological Stroll, presents classical imagery from the great moments in Italian cultural history: Roman antiquity, the Renaissance, and the Neoclassical period of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Columns, urns, candelabra, and sundials alternate with animated human figures in period-appropriate costumes, set against a patterned ground suggesting marble masonry. Such imagery not only appealed to Ponti's nationalistic impulses—celebrating Italy's continuing contributions to art, architecture, and science—but, in its chic stylization, was also fashionably up-to-date.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: "La passeggiata archeologica (An Archeological Stroll)" Covered Urn
  • Designer: Gio Ponti (Italian, Milan 1891–1979 Milan)
  • Manufacturer: Manifattura Richard Ginori
  • Date: 1925
  • Culture: Italian
  • Medium: Porcelain
  • Dimensions: 31.83ab: 19 3/4 × 6 9/16 in., 4.6 lb. (50.2 × 16.6 cm, 2.1 kg)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Porcelain
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1931
  • Object Number: 31.83ab
  • Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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Centerpiece, Gio Ponti Italian, Enameled metal
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Poltron in Tre Pezzi (Arm-chair in Three Pieces), Gio Ponti Italian, Graphite and black ink on "onion-skin" wove
Poltron in Tre Pezzi (Arm-chair in Three Pieces)
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"Superleggera" (Superlight) Side Chair (Model No. 699), Gio Ponti Italian, Ash, synthetic film rush
"Superleggera" (Superlight) Side Chair (Model No. 699)
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Soup spoon, Gio Ponti Italian, Stainless steel
Soup spoon
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Fork, Gio Ponti Italian, Stainless steel
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