Top quality wood furniture: new frontiers for the Made in Italy concept

Italy has notoriously been recognised with the poetical expression “Bel Paese” since the days of Dante and Petrarch, thanks to its natural beauty and its brilliant artworks.

When people think about works of art and in particular about the Italian ones, the first things that come to their mind might be famous paintings as L. da Vinci’s Mona Lisa or sculptures as Michelangelo’s David. What most of them might not be aware of, is that art had entered in the everyday life of Italian culture through many forms, as artisanal handicraft with the branch of cabinet-making and marquetry, since bygone times.

During the Roman Empire, the emperor Diocletian in order to preserve the continuity of craftsmanship during a period of crisis, has made it become hereditary through the institution of the collegium: so the artisanal handicraft had become a tradition that was handed down from father to son, with all its secrets and charm.

In the Medieval age it mantained its hereditary features thanks to the apprentices that were instructed since they were children by senior artisan. Only when the works of the young men managed to reach an excellent level of quality and beauty they would eventually be paid. As a result of the foundation of “craft and trade guilds” foundation with the battle against the counterfeits as well as the research for the best raw materials, the handicraft and notably the cabinet-making, reached their finest during Renaissance.

In a world in which the mass-production is the key for the making of almost every piece of furniture, clothing and also food, people feel the need to returnh to the genuity and the values of human artwork endowed with a uniqueness capable of turning a simple wood table, sink, or door into impressive artistic objects.
Since Renaissance, cabinet-making and marquetry have been occupied an important position in Italian culture and today it is very positively reconsidered even by the youngest generations because through these ancient techniques, artisans are able to create very modern designs with style. Italian cabinet-making skills allows the artisans to work with more than 84 different types of wood and satisfy even the most demanding clients. These days, wood furniture is becoming more and more famous and wood tables the top choice for the majority of Made in Italy furniture lovers.

The reason why many interior designers also choose wood tables is that they come in a lot of designs which craftsmanship is very rare and precious, colors and also texture. They also adapt to a very great variety of styles that goes from country-chic to shabby and industrial-chic. Traditionally, wood tables were mostly produced in the North of Italy, where there is an abundance of forests that ensures raw materials of a top quality that can easily be found on the market. Now, this situation is slightly changing because geographical boundaries don’t represent anymore a limit to human creativity. Sure enough, Southern-Italy artisans give life to a new definition of articles made of wood. No wonder if most of the wood tables, sinks and other type of pieces of wood furniture and inlay works are now handmade by Sicilian cabinet makers and carvers.

By Amalia Ravac

Take a look at last handmade collection click Sicilian artisan