Gabriella Crespi Rising Sun

Bronze discs that open up like clamshells for storage and fold back in to become side tables. Sleek cubes barely suspended off the ground that transform into full-size dining tables. Clean-lined boxes that contain multilevel shelving. Looking at the work of Italian designer Gabriella Crespi, born in 1922 and who still produced furniture in her Milan studio until her death in 2017, it’s hard to believe that many of these highly functional pieces — modernist Rubik’s Cubes of materials, colors and ergonomics — were created decades ago.

Among her best-known creations, the bronze Ellisse table, 1976, and her bronze-and-lacquer Yang-Yin bar, 1979, encapsulate a designer who had a strong dualism in her vision, mixing humble and precious materials, for instance, or creating geometric shapes that were softened by sensual surfaces.

Crespi began studying architecture in 1944 at the Politecnico, in Milan, where she was among just a handful of women, and became profoundly influenced by the work of Charles-Édouard "Le Corbusier" Jeanneret and Frank Lloyd Wright. After getting married and having children, she launched her own collections, from jewelry to furniture, and soon gained a loyal following, with design houses such as Maison Dior snapping pieces up for their own lines.

She began work on her most iconic collection, Plurimi, in the late 1960s, and the series — including her Dama table, which plays on the themes of volume, light and adaptability that Crespi has explored throughout her career — flourished through the 1970s and early ’80s. Then there is her famed Z desk, from a mid-1970s series, which manages to be both stylish and humorous, looking like it’s ready to leap off the floor at any moment. Well-born and beautiful, Crespi garnered attention among the jet set. She was a muse to Valentino, and her pieces appeared in the homes of Princess Grace of Monaco, the Shah of Iran and Greek shipping magnate George Livanos. 

In 1987, with her children now adults, the designer surprised everyone when she moved to the foot of the Indian Himalayas to study with the guru Sri Muniraj. This turned into a 20-year self-imposed exile that, if anything, made her pieces even more sought-after by collectors. 

Find vintage Gabriella Crespi furniture on 1stDibs.

Bamboo — the reed-like, woody grass revered the world over for its attractiveness, durability and unbeatable versatility — has a purity and elegance that Ming Dynasty dignitaries, European royals and workaday folks alike have appreciated for centuries. Antique and vintage bamboo furniture can help introduce an air of relaxation in any space, and pairs well with chinoiserie decor and a range of porcelain decorative objects.

So why is bamboo — in its many forms — so enduringly popular? The grass itself is classic-looking and pleasingly geometric, and it evokes a subtle exoticism that’s both glamorous and (due in large part to its sustainability) highly attainable.

Bamboo is harder than mahogany. It’s a rigid and hollow reed, and as such it is not rattan, which is dense, steamable and bendable, and has become its own ultimate decorative-arts chameleon over the years. But like rattan, bamboo is an organic material that provides a link to nature, helping us to bring a bit of the outside in, in an elegant yet no-frills way that seems comforting and familiar. Plus, bamboo’s lightness and slight irregularities make it the perfect counterpoint to heavy-feeling interiors.

For organic modern interiors — or any space that would benefit from a dose of the natural world — a variety of vintage bamboo outdoor furniture, side tables, dining chairs and more can be found on 1stDibs.