Description
This lidded box belongs to the rare, early output of Aldo Tura, predating the lacquered-parchment barware for which his Milanese atelier later became famous.
The rounded, gently bombé body is hand-carved from solid pear wood, its surface worked into an organic play of soft dimples and swells that catch the light and give the piece a tactile, almost living quality. The wood is finished in a warm honey-amber tone that brings out its fine, dense grain. The interior is smoothly turned and hollowed, while the domed lid is surmounted by a realistically modelled bronze crab — patinated, with verdigris accents in its recesses — that works as both decorative motif and practical handle.
A sculptural, characterful object that blurs the line between functional box and cabinet curiosity.
Design & Function
Conceived as a decorative lidded box, it is ideal on a desk, console or coffee table — for trinkets, jewellery, cigarettes or simply as a sculptural object. The bronze crab makes the lid easy to lift while giving the piece its unmistakable personality.
The contrast between the warm, organic carved wood and the cool, finely detailed bronze is pure Tura: refined, theatrical and immediately recognizable.
Materials & Aesthetic
The piece showcases Tura's mastery of materials and his taste for the unexpected: solid pear wood, hand-carved and patinated, paired with a cast bronze animal mount. The undulating surface and warm tonality reveal the artisanal quality of the work and the experimental, decorative spirit that defines the best of his production.
The wood preserves a beautiful, luminous patina, with natural variations and minor signs of age fully consistent with a hand-carved piece from the 1940s.
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SILVER Seller in Bari, Italy
