...Imagine the most exquisite surfaces -precious beyond your dreams, lost in time, and using decorative techniques few modern craftsmen can fathom - and then go on a journey in search of these riches. Your quest begins here at De Ferranti®...
~ Alvaro de Ferranti (founder and visionary)

The De Ferranti philosophy

An interior should always inspire a reaction; a space, whether private or public, sends a subliminal message to all who enter. Walls and floors - often the longest-lasting elements of interiors - in particular play their part in the spectacle. So much so that it’s surprising how an impression of wealth, authority, elegance, taste, artistry or spiritual enlightenment can be conjured up by the simple placement of materials.

From time immemorial, popes and princes, tsars and sultans, caliphs and kaisers all vied to build the most breathtaking churches, palaces, mosques and temples. Their efforts were, in most cases, impressively enduring since natural disasters, wars and the passing of years haven’t wiped out their ancient cities in stone and marble – Petra, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Ephesus, Aphrodisias, The Acropolis and the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento are still powerful emblems even if in ruins. Fragments of mosaic flooring at Piazza Armerina and Volubilis are still staggering in their beauty.

Inspired by these historical antecedents, De Ferranti - specialist in rare and unusual surfaces - seeks to supply this level of artistry for today’s interiors, believing that natural products given unique, exquisite crafting offer the utmost luxury. A modern day merchant, not unlike the Portuguese, Venetian and Dutch traders of old who loaded their ships high with treasure, De Ferranti searches far and wide, unearthing long lost materials and reviving forgotten, ancient techniques from around the globe.

Stone is one of the oldest and most durable of materials - used by the First Emperor for the Great Wall of China, the Pharaohs of Egypt for their Pyramids and Roman Emperors for their forums, coliseums and temples. De Ferranti brings back materials from the Mediterranean and further afield, reminiscent of these past achievements, but also looks for precious materials much closer to home; indigenous stone, limestone and marble from English quarries.

Collected here, for the first time, is a preview of De Ferranti’s favourite products in sumptuous colour and with glorious, detailed photography that does such great justice to each surface that you need not ask for samples. This preview brochure is backed up by an unparalleled library of images and information on www.deferranti.com

The De Ferranti Collection

As you journey through De Ferranti’s archive, you’ll find river pebbles, rock crystal, antique stone, rare marbles and limestones, semi-precious stones and minerals, pietre dure, scagliola, opus sectile, leather, onyx, metal, molten lava, mosaic and micro-mosaic, glass, gesso, ceramic, majolica, mother-of-pearl, cinnamon bark, bone and horn, coconut shell, carved and pierced stone, wood-fired terracotta, terrazzo, frescos, icons, reclaimed teak and petrified wood. It is a collection unlike any other, assembled with the passion that all true aficionados possess.

As well as surface materials, there are architectural elements that can be specially commissioned - balustrading and columns, staircases and screens, pediments and porticos, basins and baths – anything that can be hewn out of stone or other natural commodities. Materials come as cabochons, micromosaics, tiles, tesserae, briquettes, paviers, flagstones and slabs.

Techniques are wide-ranging but always handmade - embossed, inlaid, gilded, stencilled, printed, cast, carved - and often showcasing unusual, historical skills - pietre dure, cosmati, cocciopesto, opus sectile, verre églomisé, iconography, frescoes…the only limit is your imagination.

Think how King Frederick I of Prussia covered his palace walls in amber to create the ‘eighth wonder of the world’ and the Norman kings of Sicily decorated the Palatine Chapel with Byzantine mosaics of shimmering gold. Extraordinary ideas are within your grasp from the pages of this preview.

From Italy come three of De Ferranti’s favourite techniques. Cosmati, based on the decorative work made popular in 12th century Rome, features patterns of semi-precious stones and minerals such as the rare Egyptian porphyry, Giallo Numidia and Macedonian green found on the Pantheon’s floor whilst Pietre Dure, or Florentine Mosaic, mixes intricate pieces of cut and polished stones into colourful surfaces depicting birds, flowers and still-life scenes. Extremely striking is Scagliola, a layering of coloured pigments of plaster inlaid as if they were stone to create elegant patterns. With so many wonders bought back from a single country, just imagine what more there is to explore in the De Ferranti vaults.

Although De Ferranti offers authentic ‘historic’ products – to a museum quality standard - their craftsmen worldwide are adept at combining old techniques with new technology and many of their luxury products also suit contemporary schemes. A chapel or a conservatory floor, a neo-classical villa or a penthouse, all spaces have a perfect solution – maybe yet unthought-of - that can transform, uplift, inspire.

For this reason, De Ferranti is sought out by architects, designers and a range of international clients whether it’s for cladding a yacht, lining a bath in gold leaf, adding highlights or accents in semi-precious stones to a swimming pool or micro-mosaicing a niche in a hallway. Simple or ornate, small or large, residential or commercial, all projects deserve the best that you can afford.

To understand the wealth of possibilities, the London showroom of De Ferranti must be visited. Consultation is strongly advised to make any vision a reality. The archive will reveal much more than can be published within the pages of a preview.

With very special thanks to Rosita Ziani de Ferranti for being my inspiration.

© 2008. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication and website may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from De Ferranti®