Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
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.
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Brass
1960s Italian Hollywood Regency Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Brass
1980s Italian Hollywood Regency Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Goatskin, Beech
1950s Chinese Chinese Export Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Porcelain, Wood
Late 20th Century Italian Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Terracotta
1960s Italian Gustavian Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Terracotta
20th Century Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Iron
19th Century Italian Antique Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Pewter
2010s Vietnamese Modern Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Fiberglass
2010s Vietnamese Modern Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Fiberglass
1980s Philippine Chinoiserie Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Wood, Paint
1950s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Cement
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
1960s Swiss Mid-Century Modern Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1970s Hollywood Regency Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Brass
1980s Italian Hollywood Regency Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Goatskin, Beech
Mid-20th Century Italian Hollywood Regency Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Goatskin
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Goatskin
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Goatskin
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
Parchment Paper
1970s Italian Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
1970s Italian Vintage Aldo Tura Building and Garden Elements
