Blue Arm Chairs
Originally From EUGENIO C's Dining Room
And Suites
by Nino Zoncada (Gio Ponti collaborator)

Items from SS BIG RED BOAT II (ex EUGENIO C, EUGENIO COSTA, EDINBURGH CASTLE, THE BIG RED BOAT II)

Blue Upholstered Chairs
Wooden Legs
31 Inches Tall by 23.5 Inches Wide
24.5 Inches Deep
Seat Height 17.5 Inches
Price:  $250.00

Top, EUGENIO C's Genova Dining Room with the chairs in their original silver blue velvet upholstery. Center, the Etruscan Dining Room with more Zoncada chairs in blue and silver. Bottom, a first class cabin with red velvet upholstered versions of these chairs. Shawn Dake collection.

These lovely, comfortable chairs were made by the famous manufacturer Cassina for Nino Zoncada's brilliant Costa Line flagship EUGENIO C. They were originally in the suites and the Magic Flute Dining Room. In recent years, they were moved to officers' areas and various cabins.

Another view of the chairs. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 2006.

The splayed legs are wooden. Originally, they were stained medium brown, but some in recent years were just painted black. Most of the little rubber finales at the bottom have long since disappeared, but these should be easy enough to replace at Home Depot or its equivalent. Many of these have excellent fabric that might require a good shampoo to fully restore. As always, I will sell those in the best condition first.

Giovanni (Nino) Zoncada was born in Venice in 1898 and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts (Venice). In 1923, he began working in the interior and furnishing department of the Cantieri Navale Triestino of Monfalcone, becoming one of its directors by the end of the following decade. He joined forces with the Milanese architect Gio Ponti in the late 1940s and they worked together on their first project, the refurbishing of the CONTE BIANCAMANO, followed shortly thereafter by the CONTE GRANDE. Gio Ponti, of course, is possibly the most celebrated Italian designer of the 20th Century, which speaks highly for Zoncada, who is not as well known outside of ship history, but whose work may be the most important of the era. Zoncada designed or contributed to almost every major transatlantic Italian liner of the 1950s and 1960s, including: GIULIO CESARE, AUGUSTUS, ANDREA DORIA, CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, LEONARDO DA VINCI, MICHELANGELO, and RAFFAELLO. In addition, he designed practically the entire Costa fleet from the ANNA C refit in 1948 (including the brilliant EUGENIO C of 1966) all the way through to the CARLA C (ex FLANDRE) in 1968. OCEANIC, AUSONIA, GRIPSHOLM, STELLA OCEANIS, and STELLA SOLARIS are but a few more outstanding ships to emerge from his studios. Zoncada died in 1988 and the STELLA SOLARIS was his final commission.

One cannot praise the efforts of Italian authors Maurizio Eliseo and Paolo Piccione enough for their brilliant book, TRANSATLANTICI, available on Tormena Press. In it, there is much information on the underrated Zoncada and the other great Italian designers of the mid-20th century. Also, Paolo Piccione and Matteo Fochessatis CROCIERE NELL ARTE and ARTE IN VIAGGIO are two invaluable references.