Pair of Sculptural Bamboo Armchairs with Scroll Arms, Italy 1960s

The armchairs have a strongly reclined silhouette, with a tall back that descends in continuity from nape to floor. The flanks are resolved in a single bamboo curve that closes laterally into a scroll to form the armrest, leaving an open loop against the air. The seat is concave, lined with aligned slats that follow its curvature. Air passes between the canes, the shadows draw a second frame on the wall.

The structure is built in bamboo curved by steam, left in its natural colour and lightly polished. The skeleton is formed by solid tubular elements that describe the perimeter of seat, back and armrests; the infill is given to thinner slats aligned in a comb pattern, stretched between the ribs and held by rattan core ties with a visible cross-stitch on the reverse. All junction points are wrapped with rattan core spirals, the same material sheathing the lower ends of the legs as a tip. No metal elements in sight, no covering paint.

Production is Italian and dates to the mid-1960s, in the full season of bamboo's revival as a material of modern living, following the years in which Lio Carminati, Gio Ponti, Franco Albini and Vittorio Bonacina had brought cane into the vocabulary of cultured design. The pair carries no maker's mark or documentary label, but the execution, the clean curvature of the arches and the regularity of the rattan core ties point to the Lombard cane-working tradition of those years, of which Bonacina was the best-known reference.

The armchairs are in good condition, consistent with their age. The bamboo holds its original form, with no opening at the junctions or settling of the main ribs. The rattan core ties are intact, with the amber patina that the material acquires over time. The natural longitudinal cracking typical of aged bamboo is visible, along with some surface marks on the armrests and feet; no recent restoration work has been declared.

Dimensions (each): Height 95 cm (37.4 in) x Width 54 cm (21.3 in) x Depth 86 cm (33.9 in); seat height 36 cm (14.2 in)