Designer bookcase for a modern living room - Mascheroni

An open double-sided shelf designed as a dual-purpose partition and a bookcase. It was developed as an interior decoration element suitable for both homes and unconventional offices. Material and components: shelves made from solid slats of walnut, ebony, and other wood essences — both sides are finished with natural leather. The partitions are crafted from lightly antiqued bronze. For lengths up to 410 cm, there are fifteen supporting bronze structures divided into three rows; for lengths up to 300 cm, bronze structures are arranged in ten units across two rows. Each handcrafted Italian product by Mascheroni bears a plaque engraved with the brand name “Mascheroni srl Made in Italy,” confirming its authenticity.

Founded approximately 40 years ago in Cabiate, a town near Milan, in the heart of the Brianza manufacturing district where its headquarters are located, MASCHERONI has continually evolved. The company began designing and producing special items and complete sets of exclusive furniture for discerning clients seeking top-tier products, initially in Europe and later worldwide. Today, Mascheroni operates in over eighty countries worldwide.

Today, MASCHERONI is one of the few companies that oversee and control the entire production cycle, ensuring excellent quality at every stage—from raw material selection, through manufacturing, to custom services. Everything is based on teamwork, craftsmanship skills, and the quality of individual artisans. Most elements of each product are handmade and produced using state-of-the-art machinery. However, the final assembly is entirely manual, and one of the brand’s main goals is to maintain continuity by providing high-level training for employees and continuously improving their skills. Therefore, each senior master craftsman is paired with a younger artisan to complete their specialization and become a master as well.

Striving for excellence and continuous innovation are the foundations that characterize Mascheroni products, making the company recognized worldwide.

Deep experience and thorough knowledge of the materials used, production methods, and problem-solving solutions inherent to the products, combined with ongoing investments in research and development, ensure that the products are durable and retain their value over time. Quality inspections are meticulously carried out throughout the entire production cycle, and materials are subjected to detailed testing to ensure quality compliance and functionality at each stage. The finished product undergoes thorough testing to confirm proper operation and detailed analysis to ensure it meets the aesthetic standards set in the original design.

What quality of leather does Mascheroni use?

The leathers typically used in our sector have a thickness of about 1.1 - 1.2 mm, as they are more affordable and easier to process. These more common leathers are not part of Mascheroni’s sample range. The thinnest leathers the brand works with are around 1.4 mm, which is the baseline. All prices listed are for products made from leather of this thickness. The company also offers various categories of leather, all significantly thicker and more challenging to work with, but providing greater durability for the final product. What makes their leather so difficult to process, besides being two or even three times thicker than standard leathers, are the physical properties of the leather itself: for example, vegetable-tanned leather is particularly difficult to bend.

NATURAL LEATHERS by Mascheroni

These leathers are tanned to preserve all their natural features and the perfection of the leather itself, including animal life marks such as small insect bites, wrinkles, and various grain patterns. All these signs attest to the product’s genuine naturalness and should therefore be regarded as quality features. Mascheroni’s goal is to ensure the best possible leather cutting so that these “marks” do not appear on visible parts of the products. European cattle leathers, mainly, with a thickness ranging from 1.4 to 1.5 mm, are chrome-tanned, drum-dyed with aniline dyes, natural full grain. They have a soft, warm, and incredibly beautiful appearance. European cattle leathers, mainly, with a thickness from 1.6 to 1.8 mm, chrome-tanned, drum-dyed with aniline dyes, full grain. They feature a semi-transparent, nearly smooth surface with aniline effect, “hard” and sturdy.

PELLE 3M / A

European cattle leathers, thickness 2.2 mm, chrome-tanned, drum-dyed with aniline dyes, natural full grain. Feels like silk. A wonderful and delicate material of unmatched beauty. Small imperfections guarantee that the leathers are natural.

PELLE 3M

European cattle leathers, thickness 3 - 4 mm, chrome-tanned, drum-dyed with aniline dyes, natural full grain. Nearly 4 mm thick, ensuring long-lasting durability. The surface features remarkable natural animal life marks. Full grain. Strong and warm.

Vegetable-tanned leather

European cattle leathers, thickness 2.2 mm, vegetable-tanned, full grain. Semi-transparent, smooth surface, strong and warm. An excellent material, incredibly beautiful. Available only as half-leather. Vegetable tanning uses an ancient recipe that combines traditional processes with all current technologies. This process is carried out by tanners who, from generation to generation, carefully and passionately pass down their slow-tanning craftsmanship, transforming raw hides into leather without harming the environment in any way. The process relies on natural tannins extracted from trees, utilizing new technology and a long processing time. Truly, the transformation of raw hide into leather—unique and unparalleled in the world—takes nearly 40 days. Vegetable-tanned leathers bear the marks of our lives. They age but do not rot. It is precisely these changes and personal use over time that attest to the product’s naturalness.

Over the years, the tannin colors give the leather warm shades that tend to stand out on the surface of each element during use. Therefore, products become unique, personal, and one-of-a-kind for each user. The product tends to evolve depending on how it is used, revealing its best side. Choosing a product made from this leather means owning an elite and truly unique item.

The use of tannins results in products of extremely high quality: soft and smooth leathers, marked by full and shiny dyes, finished in all possible ways, suitable for any application. These products also boast impressive mechanical wear resistance, are fully sustainable, and have good resistance to water and temperature—parameters often cited as important limitations for natural products.

The result is a product that excels in every aspect, combining excellent technical properties with the heritage of past materials, featuring warm colors and a unique design. It is a product that will last and improve over time, and can be safely disposed of at the end of its lifecycle.

Wood

The Mascheroni wood collection includes over 10 different wood species from the “Mascheroni Wood Color System” catalog. The company strives to select only the best parts of the wood. The main structures of sofas and armchairs are mostly made from solid wood. In contrast, in furniture production, solid wood is used only partially. This varies depending on the product, shape, and the desired aesthetic effect, which may require the use of solid wood, plywood, shaped plywood, wooden slats, roots, and other enhanced materials.

Proof that the Mascheroni product stands out for its quality and materials used is also reflected in the weight of the final product. On average, the finished item weighs 50% more than a standard product. Knowledge of wood prompted the company to thoroughly explore various possibilities to create new and increasingly exclusive collections. The final product is the result of artisans' wisdom and innovation.

This signifies a desire and meticulousness to meet the demands of Mascheroni's very discerning clients—people who seek special, tailor-made products with a very high level of craftsmanship. Undoubtedly, this is a very challenging field, but one that allows the company to express its potential and ultimately brings great satisfaction.

Italian art and cultural heritage have always been at the heart of the brand's pride and identity. Throughout its history, Mascheroni has financed the restoration of some of Canova's artworks, organized art awards, supported historic sites such as Libreria Bocca (the oldest bookstore in Italy), and continuously funds important associations like FAI (Italian Trust Fund), which protects, restores, and opens historic places and buildings across Italy to the public.

Manufacturer information