Decastelli Pandora

In its creative exploration of industrial processes, Italian furniture manufacturer DeCastelli transforms brass, copper, stainless steel and other metals and alloys into eye-catching cabinets, cocktail tables, chairs and even decorative vases, bringing out the design potential of each raw material with its decades of expertise.

Adhering to what the brand calls "hard couture," DeCastelli positions metalworking as an art form. The brand, with four generations of ironworkers at its core, was established in 2003. DeCastelli works with designers and studios such as Marco Pisati, Emilio Nanni and IvDesign to create wondrously sculptural pieces that are at once imposing in their rawness and delicate in what is often an ode to natural forms. The tall metal storage cabinets of the Ripple collection, for example, feature concave doors that mirror the surface of a lake or a river while the spiraling etchings that adorn the iron and copper surfaces of the Syro coffee tables, with their tree branch-like supports, similarly evoke the movement of water.

Every piece of the company's furniture is made at the DeCastelli headquarters in the northern Italian commune of Crocetta del Montello, where metal and its potential ties all of the designs together — even upholstered pieces like sofas and ottomans feature brass bases and sophisticated brushed stainless steel embellishments.

DeCastelli has found great success in recent years partly due to collaborations with well-known brands and designers. At the Geneva International Motor Show in 2019, the company partnered with Maserati to fashion sheet metal into the shape of the Quattroporte Maserati dashboard. In 2021, DeCastelli collaborated with Adriano Design on a mobile copper liquor cabinet called the Barista. A few months later, it unveiled a collection of storage pieces called Marea with design studio Zanellato/Bortotto.

DeCastelli has also recently opened a new showroom in the historic city center of Milan. The space was designed by Cino Zucchi Architetti, a leading European design studio, to showcase the company's furniture and metalworking expertise.

On 1stDibs, find DeCastelli storage cabinets, tables, decorative objects and more.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”

Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.

Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.

It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.

Is it a commode or a chest of drawers?

Commode is the French term for a low chest of drawers, but it is also sometimes used to denote a piece with a particularly intricate design. The commode dates to circa 1700 France, where it was used as an alternative to a taller cabinet piece so as to not obscure paneled, mirrored or tapestried walls. Coffers, or chests, which were large wooden boxes with hinged lids and sometimes stood on ball feet, preceded chests of drawers, a fashionable cabinet furnishing that garnered acclaim for its obvious storage potential and versatility.

As time passed, French and British furniture makers led the way in the production of chests of drawers, and features like the integration of bronze and ornamental pulls became commonplace. Antique French commodes in the Louis XV style were sometimes crafted in mahogany or walnut, while an Italian marble top added a sophisticated decorative flourish. This specific type of case piece grew in popularity in the years that followed.

So, what makes a chest of drawers different from a common dresser? Dressers are short, and chests of drawers are overall taller pieces of furniture that typically do not have room on the top for a mirror as most dressers do. Tallboys and highboys are variations of the dresser form. Some chests of drawers have one column of four to six long drawers or three long drawers in their bottom section that are topped by a cluster of small side-by-side drawers on the top. To further complicate things, we sometimes refer to particularly short chests of drawers as nightstands. 

Even though chests of drawers are commonly thought of as bedroom furniture to store clothing, these are adaptable pieces. A chest of drawers can house important documents — think of your walnut Art Deco commode as an upgrade to your filing cabinet. Nestle your chest near your home’s front door to store coats and other outerwear, while the top can be a place to drop your handbag. Add some flair to your kitchen, where this lovable case piece can hold pots, pans and even cookbooks.

When shopping for the right chest of drawers for your home, there are a few key things to consider: What will you be storing in it? How big a chest will you need?

Speaking of size, don’t dream too big. If your space is on the smaller side, a more streamlined vintage mid-century modern chest of drawers, perhaps one designed by Paul McCobb or T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings, may best suit your needs.

At 1stDibs, we make it easy to add style and storage to your home. Browse our collection of antique and vintage commodes and chests of drawers today.