Characteristic of the tempera lacquer, the so-called “French” lacquer, is the opacity. The French lacquer is patinated and peeled,especially on prominent surfaces and on shapes and carvings, which is where the lacquer coincidentally performs the best.If the client wishes to maintain a matte and “watery” finish but does not want any antiquing, please indicate it when ordering.

After having appropriately dyed the raw wood to give it uniformity, the first layer of tempera lacquer is applied.

Once dry, a particular solvent is passed on the prominent parts, on the carvings or on the edges by rubbing with a cotton cloth.This is to simulate the effect of a worn furniture on its points of greatest friction.

Last step of the “antique” finishing processi is the usage of patinas. Usually we apply a bituminous patina, with a warm and yellowy color.

It helps to obtain a chiaroscuro effect, giving depth to carvings and outlines and adding a warmer effect to color itself.Eventually the patina can be also applied with a brush, splashing little dark brown spots on the surface.All of these steps are part of the antique effect process to give more lived impression to each item.

If requested by he client, we can add contrasting color profiles as well as gold or silver leaf profiles.

These last ones are made putting a sort of glue, called “missione” on the surfaces on which we want to add gold.Then, the leaf is placed, the excess is cleaned up and, eventually, the gold or silver can be patinated.

This technique is a close relative of wood marquetry.
In the 17th century Marquetry inlayers used it, giving birth to a very rich handicraft, especially in France. Straw marquetry got back in fashion during the Art Deco period, when the most prestigious decorators returned this art to its former glory.

This technique is used to create unique pieces, producing a wonderful “chiaroscuro” game. It is very rare, and in Italy it is not common at all. To achieve good results, “Marqueterie de Paille” needs patience and dedication.

The Straw

Natural straw has only the characteristic straw color. The straw strands we use are soaked with coloured vegetable oils to obtain a wide variety of bright and vivid colors, that give brightness to the product.

Soaking and cutting

The straw reed, after being colored and dried, is wetted again in warm or hot water to be softened. Then, it is engraved by the craftsman along its entire length, and spread out on the work surface.

Gluing and positioning

The cutted reed is spread on the table through a bone paper folder, which is repeatedly passed over its surface. It, thus, becomes perfectly smooth and shiny, ready to be used.

Final result

The result is a brilliant, glossy and naturally waterproof finish. The finish is applicable only on flat surfaces (panels or portions of them). The result is a product of extreme value, one of a kind and highly customizable.

Colors

The available colors aren’t exclusively those chosen for our samples. There’s a great veriety of color shades, provided by the supplier, which results from the dye applied to the natural straw. The availability of colors, therefore, depends from what is provided by the supplier dyes the straw canes.

Salda reinterprets in its own image one of the most popular styles of the 20’s: Art Deco.
In fact, Thousand Lines is a capsule collection with classic and symmetrical shapes, made up of high quality materials with an energetic and elegant style, with great attention to detail.

Natural wood with a “millerighe” pattern, a processing technique that creates undulating grooves on the surface, meets one of the Atelier’s typical finishes: shellac.

Inside, Thousand lines is completely covered with maple wood, a delicate material with an immutable beauty able to satisfy all the needs of a refined and elegant public.

The real protagonists of the collection are the golden bronzes, strictly in Salda style, which enrich and embellish the entire capsule collection.

Thousand Lines, like all Salda’s collections, are entirely handmade, guaranteeing a high level of customization.

Salda, a tailoring atelier founded in 1870, inaugurates its first London showcase inside the prestigious Design Center Chelsea Harbour, a reference point for the world of furniture in England and one of the best-known international design and architecture hubs.

The direct presence in London, international capital of interior design and high-level contract, represents another strategic piece in Salda international success.

Chelsea Harbour is the ideal destination both for London professionals and not only looking for inspiration and high-quality proposals and for individuals who can find here the precious advice of expert interior decorators and interior designers. An important step in an increasingly strategic area for Made in Italy and for Salda, a company of great tradition, a sartorial atelier deliberately contained in its size that has always stood out for its international vocation.

The showcase that will periodically be renewed presents in this first release the secretaire Art. 8382, an exclusive creation that reinterprets the Louis XV style thanks to the hand-made decorations in the Chinoiserie style.

The set is completed by two KE16 linden mirrors with carved frame and craquelè gold finish.

Two symbolic proposals that together give life to a set of sophisticated elegance capable of transmitting the quality of the brand’s bespoke philosophy to both the professional public, Salda chosen target, and the private one.

The eternal allure of classic furniture can be enhanced by unexpected material and finishing.

This is our approach, the Salda eclectic way aiming to interpret and refresh classic style.

This is how we chose resin, falling in love with its charming narrative.

Fluid material applicable on flat surfaces with a refined three-dimensional effect given by the material itself when combined with another transparent fluid.

Its allure is given by the textured effect and the power of intense color shades.

Salda worked on a vibrant and sophisticated color scheme, not just pure nuances but one-of-a-kind tones obtained by combining two different colors in precise quantities and percentages.

Like all Salda finishing, resin is worked through handmade techniques: it is poured, and color gradations and shades are created directly with the brush. The more or less full color effect is obtained by applying the resin itself with more or less density. Once the color has been made on the surface to be “coated”, it is left to dry and only once dried it is brushed making it shiny almost as if it were vitrified.

The effects of shades, shadows and lights are never the same, repeatable but not exactly reproducible, as the material, being handled, will always have its uniqueness.

A feature defining the beauty of the material itself.

Photos and post-production video by Giulio Oldrini and Eric Davanzo

A collection within the collection, a creative story that draws on and celebrates the style of the early twentieth century, between the end of the 1930’s and the 1950’s: Futura was born from the continuous study and stylistic research around the different expressions of Made in Italy.

An experiment at times daring, with the typical awareness of Salda of a historical continuity capable of gradually assuming different forms.

Futura interprets the design and creative effervescence of the time with the Salda code: exceptional quality in both creation and materials. As with every Salda creation, the items in the Futura collection are entirely handmade, ensuring as always, a high degree of customization to anticipate and satisfy the needs of a cosmopolitan clientele, aficionados of beauty. The refined textile selection resulting from a careful study of the colours and patterns typical of the time.

Chinoiseries is a type of decoration of the Asian flavour, pinching imaginary and subjects from the Chinese culture. From natural landscapes with fantasy flair, dragons and colourful birds, mesmerizing pavilions and the sweeping lines of the Chinese pagodas as well as people in Chinese clothes became popular in the West in the 18th century on different types of décor objects: porcelains, silk and lacquerware.

Today at Salda we continue to practice this wonderful technique to create exclusive pieces of extraordinary elegance. Today we show you the process to achieve such detailed craftsmanship pieces through the skilful hands of our artisans grappled with the decoration of a Louis XVI-inspired chest of drawers embellished with oriental motifs. 

The decoration of this piece of furniture requires over 18 days of work and the skills of several craftsmen. The refined oriental motif that characterizes it is created by mixing the brush decoration with thin layers of gold leaf of different shades, superimposed on each other to obtain a depth effect.

One of our favorite activities is to redesign the pieces that have made the history of furniture from a contemporary perspective and more in line with current tastes and habits of life. This year we focused on the console table, one of the most versatile furniture of French origin in history.

We started from an ancient Louis XVI style model kept in our historical archive and we lightened it of the original gold frills to give it a more modern look. We wanted to preserve the original half-moon shape typical of the first consoles in history and emphasize the decorative function of this piece through meticulous attention to detail.

The construction and decoration of this piece go through delicate manufacturing stages that make it unique and customizable in the smallest details…

THE LEGS

The basic shape of the legs is made by turning. Each single piece takes shape from a solid wood parallelepiped that is engraved and modeled manually with a chisel.The decorations are handcrafted one by one using small templates to draw a trace of the ornament and using chisels of different sizes to create the carved base. The carvings are embellished through the manual application and stripping of gold leaf.

THE TOP
The top, made of wood and not marble as was the case in the 1700s, is entirely hand decorated according to the ancient brush decoration techniques. Refined classic decorations, inspired by nature, develop around a refined fan motif made with different shades of blue and gray.

The classic silk damask is a fabric with a warp and weft of identical color, in which, however, the design stands out noticeably from the background by contrast of shine. The final product is enchanting because the fabric becomes two straight ie without the wrong side!

China was the first country to introduce ornamental motifs in fabrics: the Chinese emperor Wendi of the Sui dynasty had owned a damask dress since the fifth century. Over time, damask began to be produced in India, Persia, Syria and Byzantine Greece. Towards the sec. XII, the city of Damascus surpassed all the other countries so much for its beauty and originality of designs, that its silk fabrics were sought everywhere. And, from the heart of the Middle East it was sold in Europe. The West impressed by the high quality and value made it ceremonial, priestly clothes and used it in the furnishing of churches, palaces and royal residences.

Today, with its regal charm, damask is widely used in fashion and in the furnishing of luxury interiors. We like it very much in pastel shades, mixed with fabrics similar in color, but different in texture and composition and combined with golden finishes and shellac.

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