'Almost' hand-made. The transformation of the classic forniture in the Brianza

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to think about a few critical points arising from the process of value making of the artisanal production of antique-style furniture. Drawing on my ethnographic research in the furniture making industrial district of the Brianza, I dwell on the manners through which material and symbolic values are added to high-quality craft goods. First, I highlight the contrasting voices of the artisans in discussing their representations of what they produce and then I discuss how they cope with the difficulties stemming from both the local and the global economy. This craft survives in symbiosis with industrial production (to the point of convergence), yet it is sustained by the conspicuous consumption of new international elites to whom such goods are symbols of social distinction. Thus the value of such goods must be kept high. In doing so, the value making process shows its contradiction, because the alleged objective criterion of excellency – the so-called work of high quality – must be constantly re-adjusted (or re-assessed?) due to the aging and declining number of the highly skilled artisans.