Wood and the Italian tradition

Lumber and firewood have long been indispensable for everyday living. Today, despite the various alternatives available, wood continues to be a “precious and noble” material, much loved for its warmth and atmosphere.

The methods and technologies used for working with wood have changed rapidly over the last hundred years with the introduction of new machinery. Nevertheless, manual craftsmanship, the knowledge, the ability to picture the object before building it, remain irreplaceable. In Italy we are fortunate to have such highly skilled craftsmen and cabinetmakers.

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Real proof can be found in the northern regions. Think of the tradition of Val d’Aosta, where furniture but also sabots, wooden shoes, are strongly regional and traditional. Sculpting in wood is still practiced with passion and skill. In Trentino, Veneto and Lombardy, you will find the workshop founded by the artisan known as “the poet of wood”, Pierluigi Ghianda and the masters of furniture.

More ancient traditions connected to wood are the furniture and barrels of Modena, and also Chiavari chairs in Liguria, an art that is now more than 200 years old.

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Marquetry too, or the art of wooden inlay, is typical in Tuscany, where it was already spreading during the Renaissance to sacristy furnishings, the choirs in monasteries, and chests for dowries. Later in the eighteenth century the abstract and floral themes took the name of marqueterie and more recently were taken up by renowned designers and important cabinetmakers and restorers.

Again in Tuscany, there were skilled shipwrights in port areas, who, due to a decline in orders, veered into working for the district carters and the carnival in Viareggio. In the south too, expert shipwrights became the artisans of Neapolitan cribs, or carpenters in Matera.

Discover all craftsmanship Legno

Decorative Arts
Wood

Bruno Barbon

The location is in the San Polo neighborhood, near Campo San Tomà, the Basilica dei Frari and Scuola Grande di San Rocco. A skilfull engraver and restorer, Bruno Barbon is one of the few artisans who has mastered the art and technique of engraving the famous Venetian moretti. In addition to these jewels, Barbon also […]

Venezia

Decorative Arts
Wood

Zouganista

In 2007 Takafumi Mochizuki left the Land of the Rising Sun to move to Florence. After studying furniture restoration for some years he opened his own workshop, becoming the “Zouganista”, from “zougan”, marquetry in Japanese. Because this is his greatest passion: leaving his mark on the wood, creating decorative objects with attractive lines, with curvilinear […]

Firenze

Decorative Arts
Wood

Tarsie Turri

For over fifty years, Carlo and Rita Turri have been making works of intarsia by combining the Renaissance style and contemporary craftwork trends. Their manual processing techniques are based on traditional Italian craftsmanship and manufacturing skills, which are associated with beauty, elegance and prestige all over the world. By using natural woods- from the finest […]

Anagni (FR)

Decorative Arts
Wood

VmDesign Langhe

The small VmGuarene Workshop is the place where tradition and innovation, the passion for wood and for design blend wonderfully. It specializes in the production of solid wood chopping boards of the highest quality. Handcrafted artifacts created by using the engraving and inlay techniques on locally sourced woods and inspired by shapes and models of […]

Guarene (CN)

Decorative Arts
Wood

Falegnameria Giacomo Oleandro

Giacomo Oleandro’s workshop is based in Florence, in the picturesque Santo Spirito neighborhood. A skillful and passionate artisan whose family has been working wood for three generations, Giacomo creates period furniture and reproductions of antique furniture of the highest craftsmanship and taste, but also custom-made and modern-style pieces. Our modern-day fast-paced lifestyle has not persuaded […]

Firenze

Decorative Arts
Wood

Framondi

A passionate restorer and cabinet-maker, Francesca Mondini creates wooden works of art with artisan methods. Every creation is unique of its kind and is made by blending different types of wood, which bring natural color to the surface. The types of wood are sourced all over the world, from controlled and protected forests, and are […]

Milano

Decorative Arts
Wood

Pasquini Marino

The Pasquini Marino company was established in the late fifties in Bovolone, a well-known classic furniture manufacturing area near Verona. It designs and produces unique objects in fine solid wood with artisan methods. The family business is now run by the founder’s children, Remo and Paola. Remo’s passion for the food-and-wine business has led the […]

Bovolone (VR)

Decorative Arts
Wood

Drechslerei Fritz

Old trees are not only made of firewood. They often conceal a nice wooden ball, an extraordinary dish or an exquisite wooden bowl. Being able to extract these items from the wood is Drechslerei Fritz’s great skill. Products of all shapes, from the more common to the more unusual, characterised by soft, rounded lines. The […]

Sarentino (BZ)

Decorative Arts
Wood

Leandro Favre

Born into a family of sabot-makers, the Favre brothers joined their father’s business in the sixties by taking part in the Fiera dell’Orso, a very popular crafts fair held in the Val d’Aosta region. They combine their artisan skill and passion for the typical shoes of Val d’Aosta with the management of a local farm. […]

Ivrea

Decorative Arts
Wood

Buonaccorsi Ebanisti

For over 50 years, the Buonaccorsi cabinet makers have been producing furnishings and custom furniture, thanks to its collaboration with architecture firms. In 1961, Dino began his career in a small workshop in Lucca, where he became an expert carver. When his children, Marco, Luca and Tiziana joined the company, and with the advent of […]

Guamo Capannori (LU)

Decorative Arts
Wood

Massimo Casiello

An interest that has become a real passion that of Massimo Casiello in his wood-crafting atelier, enclosed in the magical setting of the Sassi. All the work is done by hand using techniques such as turning, engraving and sculpting, and the material reveals its amazing natural beauty every time. In the cherished atelier-workshop, you can […]

Matera

Decorative Arts
Wood

Les Amis du Bois

A small company that carries on the woodworking tradition of the Valle d’Aosta. This tradition is respected not only in the techniques used in the workshop, found in the village of Introd, but also in the objects produced: Les Amis du Bois is, in fact, specialized in making wooden objects and, in particular, in the […]

Introd (AO)

Decorative Arts
Wood

Georg Demetz

Georg Demetz is passionate about an art that his family has pursued for four generations: after studying sculpture at the Art Institute of Ortisei, he practised with different masters to achieve the title of master sculptor in 1987 and work in his own workshop in Ortisei. He is specialised in small sculptures, in particular religious […]

Ortisei (BZ)

Decorative Arts
Wood

Leone Cornici

A point of reference for collectors and antique dealers, private customers and museums: the Leone workshop makes and restores frames according to the fourteenth-century techniques. Frames, mirrors and tabernacles in any style. Built with old wood, hand-carved, the gold plating is done in gouache only with pure gold leaf, and the colours are made only […]

Firenze

Decorative Arts
Wood

Longo Arte

The Longo family’s activity in the field of antique reproduction furniture began in 1974 with Giuseppe, an expert carpenter and restorer. He then passed down this art to his son Gabriele, who over time became a sculptor as well as carver. Today the workshop deals mainly with the restoration of furniture, windows and doors, as […]

Cortona (AR)

Decorative Arts
Wood

Codice-a-barre di Alessio Gismondi

Codice-a-barre, for three generations, has been working in the field of fine cabinetmaking, designing and creating furniture accessories in limited editions, with the declared intention of transforming everyday environments into evocative places. Through the encounter with the material, following the combination of profession/creativity, he creates objects for both interiors and exteriors, with high quality craftsmanship […]

Civitavecchia (RM)

Decorative Arts
Wood

Laboratorio di Corniceria di Stefano Ajello

Not stopping simply at making the handcrafted frames of the business’s beginnings, for some years Stefano Ajello has also been recovering and reusing materials such as old wooden shutters or similar items. Materials that would be destined for pulping are reworked by Stefano Ajello and transformed into furnishings and frames, alongside the traditional framing. All […]

Perugia

Decorative Arts
Wood

Bottega d’Arte Maselli

First Paul Maselli in 1955, and for the last 37 years his son Gabriele, have been creating frames for customers in his workshop, in the heart of Florence, where you can choose from about 600 models. But this wide range of products does not exhaust Bottega d’Arte’s ability to fulfil private customers’ requests as well […]

Firenze

Decorative Arts
Wood

Francesco Assante

Francesco Assante, a shipwright from Ischia, has been manufacturing and repairing boats since 1987, completely by hand and on commission. Specialised in Gozzis and Lances, typical local boats for fishing and tourism, he recently constructed miniature boats for displays and collections. Such as “Lancia”, a handmade prototype faithfully built following the canons of construction that […]

Ischia (Na)

Decorative Arts
Wood

Alessandro Fiorentino Collection

The Palazzo Pomarici Santomasi hosts both of the cores of the Alessandro Fiorentino Collection: the heart of production is also home to the Museum of Tarsia Lignea, opened in 1999. Its aim is to protect and promote the richness of artistic craftsmanship in wood inlay. The works, in which one can see an architectural approach, […]

Sorrento (NA)

Decorative Arts
Wood

Castorina

The passion for wood is the same passion that animates the workshop in the heart of Oltrarno, where you can smell the odour of wood transformed into furnishings, objects and small pieces of furniture. The Castorina workshop can meet the demands of the most diverse customers and works closely with architecture and designers. Besides its […]

Firenze

Decorative Arts
Wood

Bottega Ghianda

Pierluigi Ghianda, who passed away in 2015, was called “the poet of wood”, for the knowledge, love and respect he had when working with the material. In his workshop, the craftsmen who grew with him create furniture and wooden objects of various kinds, without the use of nails, but skills in creating interlocking joints or […]

Bovisio Masciago (MB)