Overview
An elegant ice bucket / insulated thermos by Aldo Tura, made in Italy in 1970, model 1225 covered in lacquered goatskin parchment and encircled by a hand-painted green classical frieze. It features warm brass mounts, a brass swing handle and a conical lid with a brass finial, and retains its original Tura label.
 
Description
This piece embodies the glamorous barware for which Aldo Tura's Milanese atelier is celebrated.
The cylindrical body is covered in lacquered goatskin parchment in warm cream-and-honey tones, with the translucent depth and organic veining typical of the material. Around the body runs a finely hand-painted decorative band in green — scrolling foliage, shells and amber-red rosettes in a neoclassical, Pompeian taste — which gives this example its rarer, "decorated" status. A brass rim crowns the top, a brass band finishes the base, and a brass swing handle arcs over the body. The matching conical parchment lid is topped with a turned brass finial, while the interior is insulated in the manner of Tura's thermos ice buckets. The brass base retains the original green "Tura – Italy" foil label with the horseshoe emblem.
 
Design & Function
Conceived as an ice bucket, wine cooler or insulated thermos for the bar, it keeps ice with its lidded, insulated body, while the swing handle makes it easy to carry and serve. Equally, it stands as a glamorous decorative object on a bar cart, console or sideboard.
The combination of lid, handle and decorated body makes it both a practical serving piece and a striking display object.
 
Materials & Aesthetic
The piece showcases Tura's signature pairing of lacquered goatskin parchment and brass, here elevated by the hand-painted classical frieze. The warm, luminous parchment, the jewel-like green decoration and the golden brass fittings combine into the theatrical, luxurious aesthetic that defines the best of Aldo Tura's production.
The parchment preserves a beautiful, luminous surface, with the natural variations, veining and minor signs of age inherent to the material.
 
Technical Details
Product: Aldo Tura Lacquered Goatskin Parchment Ice Bucket / Thermos with Green Decorative Frieze, Italy, 1970
Designer: Aldo Tura
Manufacturer: Aldo Tura, Milano
Period: 1970
Materials: Lacquered goatskin parchment; brass (rim, base, swing handle and finial); insulated interior
Dimensions: Height 34,5cm (to handle) | Diameter 16cm
Condition: Please note that this item is in good vintage condition. The lacquered parchment is intact, with a warm patina; natural variations, veining and minor age-related marks may be present, consistent with the material and the period. The brass shows a light patina, and the painted frieze is well preserved. The lid and swing handle are present and functional, and the piece retains its original Tura label. We kindly invite you to take these characteristics into consideration before purchasing.
Functionality: Lidded ice bucket / insulated thermos with brass swing handle
Markings: Original green "Tura – Italy" foil label (horseshoe emblem) to the brass base
 
Collectibility
Aldo Tura's parchment barware is highly collectible, and hand-decorated examples such as this — with their painted classical friezes — are notably rarer and more sought after than the plain versions. The piece retains its original maker's label, and it is sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by the Aldo Tura Archive, of which JF Gallery Design is the current custodian, confirming its attribution and its historical and collectible importance.
A refined, theatrical object, ideal for collectors of 20th-century Italian design and for sophisticated, curated interiors.
 
Designer & Manufacturer
Aldo Tura (Milan) is among the most distinctive figures of 20th-century Italian decorative arts. His atelier is renowned for its exceptional work with parchment and luxurious materials, creating highly recognizable, theatrical pieces — barware, boxes and furniture — in which craftsmanship, decorative refinement and material experimentation merge into an unmistakable Italian design language. Decorated parchment pieces like this one represent his work at its most elaborate and collectible.