"Steccolino" Leather & Aluminum Frame Table Lamp by N. Perkal for Oscar Maschera

Born in Buenos Aires, Nestor Perkal lives and works in Paris. Although he trained as an architect, his work has always been oriented to design and interior architecture. In 1985, Perkal founded an international design gallery in Paris, l’Espace Nestor Perkal, where he was among the first in Europe to show and sell pieces from the “New International Design” movement: Memphis Milano, Mariscal and many others.

From 1987 to 1994, Perkal was the artistic director of Algorithme — a goldsmith — where he invited many designers to work on edition projects that were highly successful in France and abroad. As a designer, Perkal has collaborated with Drimmer, Lou Fagotin, Artcodif, Veronese, etc. At CIRVA (International Research Centre on Glass and Plastic Arts), he created the Miroirs collection between 1994 and 1996.

As an interior architect, Perkal has furnished the café of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, different areas for Cartier and the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art, as well as many private apartments and houses. He has been the curator and scenographer of exhibitions held at the Cartier Foundation (La vie en Roses, 1998), at the Galerie Chez Valentin, Paris (“chez Valentin 2000”), at the Passage de Retz (Paris, 2000), at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rochechouart and the Grand Hornu in Belgium for the exhibition Désirs d’Objets (2003–04) and the Museum des Arts Décoratifs, Paris for the exhibition "Editer le design" (2006) and 100% Finlandia (2008). Perkal has been the director of the Research Centre on the Arts of Fire and Earth (CRAFT) of Limoges (1993–2009), developing strong and lively projects aimed at creating an experimental and artistic connection between industrialists and designers, architects and artists.

OSCARMASCHERA is a 100% Italian company that was founded in 2005 out of Oscar Maschera and Claudia Serafini’s profound experience in and knowledge of materials.

Surrounded by the timeless and romantic countryside of Pesaro, the two artists convey their creativity through the production of unique, refined items and small pieces of furniture, all made of leather and natural materials. The product range goes from magazine-holder baskets to log-holders and various-sized boxes, from desk accessories and picture frames to benches, poufs, stools, refined mirrors, carpets and lamps. Oscar Maschera collaborates with internationally renowned designers, such as Nestor Perkal, Claude Bouchard and Nathalie du Pasquier.

All OSCARMASCHERA objects are made in full grain leather, which is the outermost layer and most valuable part of the hide. It is an authentic, Italian, vegetable-tanned material (tannins extracted from the bark of certain plants, such as mimosa and chestnut). Processing is traditional: It is a process that requires time and accuracy. The leather must retain all of its characteristics and its history.