Goatskin Covered Lamp and Pedestal by Aldo Tura, Italy, 1970
View Similar Items
Goatskin Covered Lamp and Pedestal by Aldo Tura, Italy, 1970
About the Item
- Creator:Aldo Tura (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 45.28 in (115 cm)Width: 17.72 in (45 cm)Depth: 17.72 in (45 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Measurements are with lampshade & pedestal included.
- Seller Location:Brussels, BE
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU4567115333772
Aldo Tura
One of the most enigmatic and polarizing figures to emerge in Italian design, Aldo Tura is an outlier in the world of mid-century furniture. The designer’s glamorous bar carts, coffee tables, cabinets and more resist categorization and draw inspiration from Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Baroque, Surrealist and modernist styles.
Tura moved through distinct phases in his career in terms of aesthetics, influences and finishes, rendering his life’s work exciting and diverse. Despite these phases, he held a singular devotion to one material: lacquered goatskin. Tura established a furniture production house in 1939 in Lombardy, and some of his early work focused on tables, decorative lamps and more. He later expanded to bar furnishings like rolling carts, cabinets and complementary barware accessories like ice buckets and cocktail shakers. The eccentric, gleaming and luxe surface of lacquered goatskin was a constant, along with eggshell, parchment and leather.
By the 1950s, Tura had begun to use hand-painted figural panels on the surface of cabinets, serveware (such as carafes) and other pieces. He even replicated famous works by artists like Monet and Bruegel the Elder and art from the Middle Ages, sometimes playfully embedding the paintings on cabinets shaped like oversize books. Even though he had a favored color palette of rich chocolate browns and deep emeralds, his style remained consistently hard to define.
Tura was unlike most of his Italian contemporaries but held a similar reverence for the nation’s traditional craftsmanship and artisanal techniques. He never followed the growing trend of mass-produced, industrial furniture and stuck to creating small, meticulously handcrafted collections. This principled choice means that today, a Tura piece is a rare and highly coveted collectible. The Tura firm continues to operate in Brianza, promoting Italian craftsmanship and the eclectic materials embraced by their namesake designer.
Find authentic vintage Aldo Tura furniture today on 1stDibs.
More From This Seller
View AllVintage 1970s Belgian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass, Chrome
Vintage 1970s French Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1970s English Table Lamps
Metal
Late 20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Bronze
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal, Steel
Vintage 1960s Belgian Brutalist Table Lamps
Amethyst, Metal
You May Also Like
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1970s French Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Metal
Vintage 1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Brass
Vintage 1970s Italian Table Lamps
Brass
