It wasn’t bamboo, it wasn’t wicker. It was rattan, a solid wood that could be curved and shaped was just imported by Bonacina in the late Nineteenth century
Bonacina 1889 x Lampoon Issue 24
The sensuality of Bonacina 1889’s wood told through the eyes of Eli Craven. It was the end of the Nineteenth century. To go and study in Milan, Giovanni Bonacina used to go in a horse-drawn carriage. In Milan, he made the acquaintance of some Dutch people who were importing a new material, rattan, from Indonesia. It wasn’t bamboo, it wasn’t wicker. It was reed, a solid wood that could grow up to twenty metres long, that could be curved and shaped.
The list of names that have worked with Bonacina 1889 includes the Masters of Italian Design, and some of the pieces portrayed in these pages are exhibited in international museums – Margherita by Franco Albini, Palla by Giovanni Travasa, Primavera by Franca Helg. Elia Bonacina, fourth generation, is now at the helm of the company.
Bonacina 1889
Bonacina 1889 is an Italian designer furniture company founded in 1889 in Lurago d’Erba in the province of Como. The company specializes in the processing of rush (in English rattan).
Editorial Team
