Designed by Gio Ponti for Cassina, the “Leggera” chair is one of the defining objects of postwar Italian design and the direct ancestor of the better-known “Superleggera” of 1957. Ponti developed it by rethinking the traditional handcrafted chairs of Chiavari, paring the structure down to the essentials until the object carries almost no visual weight. The result became a benchmark for an Italian design that could be both rigorous and domestic, and it remains one of the most collected and widely referenced pieces in Cassina’s postwar catalogue. This example is made of solid ash, lacquered black throughout, with the tapered legs and double-rail backrest that define the model. The seat was woven in cord by a renowned Milanese artisan, a distinctive departure from the original rush seat.