Pair of black lacquered Campanino armchairs, Enzo Rotella, Chiavari, Italy 1950s

Pair of Campanino armchairs produced by Enzo Rotella, made of stained beech wood and straw, manufactured in Chiavari, Italy, in the 1950s.

The wide seat and curved armrests characterize this pair of Campanino armchairs made in Chiavari in the mid-1950s. This historic model, in its black-stained version, epitomizes the tradition of chair craftsmanship that for almost two centuries has borne the name of Chiavari, a charming medieval town nestled on the Italian coast.

The name "Campanino," a popular term for the cabinetmaker who in the early nineteenth century crafted a series of similar elegant and lightweight chairs, is closely associated with this seating model, here in its armchair version, which shares precise similarities with the historical, now museum-grade, model due to the shape of the backrest and the succession of decorative turnings.

Unrivaled in charm and taste, this pair of armchairs, originally designed for social settings such as hotels and tea rooms, now serves as ideal furnishing complements for blending with the finest pieces of modern design.

The juxtaposition of the classic lines of this model with the suggestions of modern and contemporary design is not merely a modern sensitivity; it has already been featured in prominent industry magazines such as Domus, a revered publication among architects and interior designers, where the Campanino appears with its own recognizable dignity in the black-and-white images of setups proposed by the leading designers of the time.
Professionally restored in the wooden parts and with the typical seat made of hand-woven Indian cane, these armchairs are poised to meet any furnishing need.