Wood in Italy

Capua is an ancient city in the south of Italy. It was there long before the Romans, and became an important place in classical roman times. Over the centuries people have used what structures they found and added to them for living spaces. That makes a strange architectural melange with Roman statuary and columns embedded in modern apartment buildings haphazardly.

We went there earlier this year with a friend from Napoli. Visited a depot for salvage from demolished buildings and found old planks of chestnut wood and olive wood six and seven centimeters thick, which had been used hundreds of years ago.

Some of these we have have since made into benches with bronze legs. With the help of Jone Kvie, our resident shelf expert, we made a bookshelf with some and it now works in our showroom in Napoli.

There is in Capua the seldom visited Campano museum with a trove of fertility statues, known as Mater Matuta or Mother of the Morning, made of carved stone.

These pre-Roman statues bring forth the power and strength of women as they bring forth and care for life.