Aldo Tura

Extendable Bar-Table

Handcrafted ash wood frame covered with lacquered parchment.

Not much is known in literature about Tura's life. The experimental furniture designer has been dealing with the manual production of tables, cupboards and lamps since the 1930s. In 1939, he founded his own furniture workshop in Lombardia near Milano, Italy.

His mix of styles from Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and minimal. Tura went beyond the limits of traditional craftsmanship. Following the Art Deco movement, which focused on straight lines and angles, Tura's designs now included flowing lines and free forms. The limited edition of Tura's works is of high quality, some pieces only existed as prototypes. In his designs, he used a large selection of unusual materials such as eggshells, parchment, goatskin and wood veneers. His objects, often kept in the colours red, green and yellow (rarely in dark blue or violet) were occasionally also provided with wheels or roller feet as well as with bronze or brass fittings. Bar cabinets in various sizes and with different functions, from filigree trolleys to large floor cabinets, formed the focus of the work from Tura's workshop. They were equipped with accessories such as ice buckets, carafes, humidors, ashtrays and cocktail shakers, which were mostly covered with lacquered goatskin. 

When many furniture manufacturers opted for mass production in the post-war years, Tura remained committed to traditional craftsmanship. Its preferred complicated and complex forms brought with it labour-intensive processes that did not allow the industrial production of large quantities. In the 1950s, Tura also produced hand-painted seating with motifs of architectural or Venetian landscapes. 

The Brooklyn Museum in NYC shows some of Tura's works that were originally part of the travelling exhibition Italy at Work: Her Renaissance in Design Today, 1950–53.

The "Tura" family company in Lazzate, Lombardy, Italy, continues to produce furniture based on the style of the designer who died in 1963.

In great vintage condition

Provenance private collector, Monza, Lombardia, Italy.

H: 40cm x L: 140cm x D: 80cm