La Manifattura
Bovolone, Province of Verona
Between Verona and the Po valley lies a stretch of country where furniture has been built since the 18th century. Whole villages live from it: one workshop saws and glues, the next carves, the one after that gilds. Every piece in this shop comes from this area.
What “handmade” means here
The carcass is built from solid walnut, cherry, ash or poplar that is seasoned for two to three years before it is worked. Joints are mortised and glued, not screwed. Inlays are laid from individual pieces of veneer: maple, burl wood, ebony, several hundred pieces for a single table top depending on the pattern. Carving is done with the chisel, not the router.
The finish takes the longest. Priming, sanding, staining, sanding again, applying shellac, polishing it out with the pad: up to forty passes until the tone is right. Gold leaf is laid on, not sprayed. A larger cabinet is in work for several weeks.
Why it takes time
None of this sits in a warehouse. Every piece is built after you order it, in the finish and the upholstery fabric you choose. The usual lead time is eight to twelve weeks. If you need to furnish faster, tell us before you order: sometimes a suitable piece is already in production.
We change dimensions
A table twenty centimetres shorter, a display cabinet narrower, a different wood tone, your own fabric: in this way of building, that is not an exception but the normal case. Write to us with what you need and we will obtain the price from the workshop.