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.
Umbrella Stand by Walter Bosse
By Herta Baller
Located in Vienna, AT
Steel basket with steel drip tray black painted with a brass fish outside the basket, designed by Walter Bosse in the 1950s for Hertha Baller.
Brass, Steel
Tiffany & Co. Makers Sterling Silver Vase
By Tiffany & Co.
Located in Vienna, AT
Tiffany & Co. Makers Sterling Silver Vase. Crafted Of Fine Quality Solid Sterling Silver. Hallmarked On The Bottom “Tiffany & Co. Makers 23922 Sterling Silver 925. Measures approxima...
Sterling Silver
Austrian Midcentury Brass Bamboo Umbrella Stand
By Herta Baller, Walter Bosse
Located in Vienna, AT
Cast iron base blackened with vertical bamboo rods and brass upper triangular part. Made in Austria in the 1950s. Partially restored
Brass, Steel
Mid-Century German Large Floor Vase
By Scheurich Keramik
Located in Vienna, AT
Mid-Century Modern ceramic floor vase hand painted with abstract motifs. Made in Germany in the 1960s
Ceramic
Aldo Tura Parchment Barware Thermos Flask Designed In the 1950s
Located in Vienna, AT
Rare thermos flask deisgned by Aldo Tura in the 1950, bulbous body covered in red leather and colorless lacquer with brass fittings, height approx. 26 cm, signs of age and use.
Brass
Mid-Century Brass Italian Umbrella Stand
Located in Vienna, AT
Brass construction with perforated creme painted steel elements on a heavy cast iron foot. Made in Italy in the 1960s.
Brass, Steel
Ice Bucket by Aldo Tura, Italy, 1960s
By Aldo Tura
Located in Catania, IT
Ice bucket by the Italian designer Aldo Tura in red goatskin with brass lid and bronze handle, 1960s.
Brass, Bronze
Mid-Century Organic Modern Planter with Brass Rim, c. 1960s
Located in Valencia, VC
Mid-Century Organic Modern Medium Size Pencil Reed/Rattan Planter with Brass Rim A striking and beautifully crafted Mid-Century Organic Modern planter executed in pencil reed/ratta...
Brass
French Oak, Aluminum, and Brass Ice Bucket from Geraud Lafitte Ouvrier, 1950s
Located in Varese, Lombardia
Oak and brass ice bucket with internal aluminum tray by Geraud Lafitte Ouvrier, 1950s. Good condition. No breakages or visible damages.
Aluminum, Brass
Gabriele De Vecchi Milano 800 Silver Ice Bucket 1970s Drinks Bar Cart Art Deco
By Gabriele De Vecchi
Located in London, GB
An exceptionally collectable Gabriele De Vecchi ice bucket masterfully handcrafted in 800 content silver and an oak lid shaped as an pineapple/ananas. Signed at the bottom 665MI whi...
Silver
Mid-century cream parchment ice bucket, Aldo Tura Italy 1950s
By Aldo Tura
Located in Firenze, IT
Mid-century cream parchment ice bucket Aldo Tura Italy 1950s The leather is not lacquered as Tura sets usually are in the later 60s productions but bare, very rare to find in this ...
Brass
Mid Century Ice Bucket · Atomic Age Design
Located in Mexico City, CDMX
Aluminum, black lacquered tripod base. 1960 was looking toward space. And the design of that decade knew it. This ice bucket is a bar object turned into a period manifesto. The conic...
Aluminum
