If an Italian soldier named Renzo Frau had never traveled to Great Britain and set eyes on a Chesterfield armchair, it is unlikely that legendary handcrafted furniture maker Poltrona Frau and its classic sofas, armchairs and vanities would exist today.
Upon completing his service in the Italian army during the early 1900s, the Sardinian-born Frau worked for faux leather manufacturing company Dermoide Patent in Turin. While at the firm, he was sent to England, where he became enamored with leather Chesterfield armchairs. Intrigued and inspired by their rolled arms and tall, imposing profile, Frau returned to Turin, where he started his own leather-upholstered furniture company, Poltrona Frau, in 1912. He began to import the sumptuous Edwardian seating for the high-end domestic market.
Frau made slight modifications to the English seat that he’d so admired, and among Poltrona Frau’s first successful designs was an iconic armchair in 1919 appropriately called the Chester. Believed to have been custom-made for Filiberto Ludovico of Savoy, Duke of Pistoia, the Chester reflected the era’s emerging Art Deco style. Frau’s chair was comfortable and functional, and he implemented the traditional upholstery technique capitonné, which refers to stuffing that is buttoned. The Chester featured a pouf and an arm that was possibly included to hold the Duke’s ashtray. The seat’s high-quality craftsmanship and integration of exquisite full-grain leather made it covetable among Italy’s elite.
When Renzo Frau died in 1926, Poltrona Frau was appointed furniture supplier to Italy’s royal family. The company furnished grand hotels, designed the interiors for Expo Turin 1928 and outfitted an Italian transatlantic ocean liner.
For more than a century, Poltrona Frau has collaborated with hundreds of leading architects and designers from around the world. It issued such iconic mid-century modern pieces as Gio Ponti’s Dezza armchair, the 1960s-era Dilly Dally vanity by Italian designer Luigi Massoni, stackable tubular steel Movie armchairs by Italian architect Mario Marenco and French architect Jean-Marie Massaud’s sleek, angular Kennedee office sofa.
Poltrona Frau has established showrooms all over the world and creates interiors for Italian automotive brands Maserati and Ferrari. The company is owned by Haworth and continues to introduce innovative, handmade home furnishings while occasionally gazing back into time — its Chester line, a modular seating system by Poltrona Frau CEO Nicola Coropulis and Roberto Lazzeroni, is a contemporary interpretation of the founder’s original Chesterfield-style seating.
Find vintage Poltrona Frau club chairs, coffee tables, desks and other furniture on 1stDibs.
Tito Agnoli Postmodern Italian Peccari Leather Coffee Table for Caleido, 1970
By Poltrona Frau, Tito Agnoli
Located in Conversano, IT
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Animal Skin
Emilio Ambasz Leather & Glass "NuAGE" Coffee Table for Poltrona Frau
By Poltrona Frau, Emilio Ambasz
Located in Brooklyn, NY
For your consideration is this rare, all original "NuAGE" coffee table designed in 1999 by architect, Emilio Ambasz for Poltrona Frau featuring a 1.5 cm ...
Steel
2014 Poltrona Frau Geometrie Coffee Tables in Ebonized Wood w/ Steel Base 30in
By Poltrona Frau
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a low Geometrie Coffee Table, by Poltrona Frau. The piece was manufactured in Italy in 2013. It is formed of ebonized open-pore wengé wood, and has chromed steel legs. The s...
Steel
$4,950
H 13.33 in W 59 in D 39.25 in
Leather, Aluminum & Glass Coffee Table by Antonio Citterio for B&B Italia
By B&B Italia, Paolo Nava, Antonio Citterio
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Beautiful coffee table designed and manufactured in the 1970s by Paolo Nava and Antonio Citterio, manufactured by B&B italia. The table frame is made out of black leather and die-...
Aluminum
Italian Coffee Table, 1970
By Poltrona Frau
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Wonderful red leather and wood two-tier coffee table from Italy, 1970, attributed to Poltrona Frau. One dark and one light wood top, wrapped in ox-blood colored, patinaed leather, on...
Metal
$2,499 / item
H 16.9 in Dm 39.4 in
Large Jacques Adnet 'Circulaire' Glass and Tan Leather Coffee Table for GUBI
By Jacques Adnet, Gubi
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Large Jacques Adnet 'Circulaire' Glass and Tan Leather Coffee Table for GUBI. Originally designed by Jacques Adnet in the 1950s, this incredibly refined coffee table is executed in ...
Leather, Glass
$2,160Sale Price|40% Off
H 16.5 in Dm 36 in
Brueton Attributed Stainless Steel Pedestal Base Coffee Table
By Brueton
Located in Dallas, TX
This is very much of the quality of Brueton. Polished stainless steel base with glass top. In beautiful condition.
Stainless Steel
$4,500
H 15.75 in Dm 29.5 in
Tito Agnoli for Bonacina BT 2 Bamboo and Rattan Round Coffee Table, Italy, 1960s
By Tito Agnoli, Bonacina
Located in New York, NY
Tito Agnoli for Pierantonio Bonacina modernist round coffee table model BT 2 composed of woven bamboo and rattan ending in four sculptural curved legs, Lurago D'Erba, Italy, 1960s. T...
Bamboo, Rattan
Tito Agnoli Rattan, Bamboo and Glass Coffee Table, Italy, 1960s
By Tito Agnoli
Located in Naples, IT
Round bamboo coffee table with red glass top designed in 1960s Italy by Tito Agnoli.
Bamboo, Rattan, Glass
$21,181
H 29.14 in Dm 25.99 in
20th Century Luigi Massoni for Poltrona Frau Dilly Dally Vanitiy Dressing Table
By Poltrona Frau, Luigi Massoni
Located in Torino, Piemonte
Dressing table model Dilly Dally designed by Luigi Massoni for Poltrona Frau in 1960s. The dressing table is composed of two pieces, one round armchair (which alone measures 74 x 66 ...
Metal
$10,590 / set
H 28.75 in Dm 25.99 in
L. Massoni Dilly Dally White Leather Vanity Table by Poltrona Frau, Italy 1960s
By Poltrona Frau, Luigi Massoni
Located in Roma, IT
Stunning white “Dilly Dally” dressing table designed by Luigi Massoni and produced by Poltrona Frau in Italy during the 1960s. Fully origin...
Metal
Emilio Martelli Italian Scagliola Inlay Marble Coffee Table
By Emilio Martelli
Located in Lynn, MA
Vintage Italian hand-painted Florentine Marble coffee table by artist Emilio Martelli. The slab sits on top of frame with brass legs. The scagliola pro...
Marble, Brass
$3,012Sale Price|21% Off
H 14.77 in W 47.25 in D 27.17 in
Chrome, Leather and Smoked Glass Coffee Table
By Jacques Adnet
Located in Marcq-en-Barœul, Hauts-de-France
This rare and very unusual coffee table is made of a chrome base with a wide leather band and a smoked glass top. This is a French Work in the style of famous designer Jacques Adnet....
Chrome
Modernist Ebonized Steel and End Cut Oak Coffee Table
By Brendan Bass
Located in Dallas, TX
Modernist Ebonized Steel and End Cut Oak Coffee Table Designed by Brendan Bass for the Vision and Design Collection, by using high quality materials and textures. All materials are ...
Steel
$1,812
H 19.69 in W 25.99 in D 22.45 in
Midcentury Coffee Table in Bamboo and Rattan by Tito Agnoli, Italy 1960s
By Vivai del Sud, Tito Agnoli
Located in Rome, IT
Midcentury amazing oval hand-crafted coffee table with curved legs in rattan and bamboo by Tito Agnoli. Made in Italy in the 1960s. A highly decorative bamboo and rattan coffee tab...
Bamboo, Wicker, Cane, Rattan
Sold
H 12.6 in W 68.51 in D 30.71 in
Ouverture Coffee Table by Poltrona Frau, 1980s Chromed Steel & Glass
By Poltrona Frau
Located in IT
Italian chromed steel and smoked glass Ouverture coffee table for Frau, 1980s Original Frau coffee table model Ouverture, Design Cerri for Frau. Steel and smoked glass. Excellent...
Steel
Sold
H 11.82 in W 55.12 in D 35.44 in
Leather and bronze mirrored coffee table by L. Massoni for Poltrona Frau 70s
By Poltrona Frau, Luigi Massoni
Located in Padova, IT
Luigi Massoni was one of the greatest Italian designers of the 20th century. Born in Milan in 1930, he studied architecture at the University of Milan before starting his career in design. Massoni worked for many Italian design companies, including Boffi and Alessi. He was also one of the founders of Gruppo Architetti Urbanisti Città Nuova, an organization that deals with urban planning and architecture. Poltrona Frau is an Italian company that operates in the high-end furniture sector based in Tolentino. Founded in 1912 in Turin by Renzo Frau from Cagliari, in 1962 it was acquired by the Nazareno Gabrielli brand, managed and developed by Cavalier Franco Moschini until 2004, when the Charme fund entered the capital of Poltrona Frau and established the Poltrona Frau Group. Franco Moschini remained president until 2016 but since 2014 the company has been controlled by the American company Haworth Inc. which expands the group. In the summer of 2019 Lifestyle Design was born, which in addition to Poltrona Frau includes Cassina, Cappellini, Zanotta, Ceccotti Collezioni, Janus et Cie, Luminaire, Karakter, Interni and Luxury Living Group.
Leather, Mirror
Sold
H 11.82 in W 45.28 in D 45.28 in
Italian Coffee Table in Maroon Leather w/ Bronze Glass by Massoni for Frau, '70s
By Poltrona Frau, Luigi Massoni
Located in Roma, IT
Stunning low adjustable coffee table in spectacular full grain maroon colored Italian leather with a bronzed smoked mirror top. This incredibly stylish and unique table was designed ...
Metal
Sold
H 13.75 in W 61.75 in D 61.75 in
2013 Poltrona Frau Geometrie Coffee Table in Ebonized Wood with Steel Base 62 in
By Poltrona Frau
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a low Geometrie Coffee Table by Poltrona Frau. The piece was manufactured in Italy in 2013. It is formed of ebonized open-pore wenge wood, and has steel legs. The scored geom...
Steel
Sold
H 19 in W 36 in D 36 in
Pelle Grey Cestlavie Leather Coffee Table, Gam Fratesi for Poltrona Frau, Italy
By Poltrona Frau
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Pelle Grey Cestlavie Leather Coffee Table, Gam Fratesi for Poltrona Frau, Italy. Flip-top storage coffee able in grey leather. If Gam Fratesi's elegant 'C...
Steel
Sold
H 13 in Dm 43.5 in
Contemporary Modern Poltrona Frau Regolo Leather Wrapped Two Tier Coffee Table
By Poltrona Frau
Located in Keego Harbor, MI
A Poltrona Frau Regolo leather wrapped two tier coffee table. This wonderful little coffee table is designed and manufactured by Italian furniture company Poltrona Frau. This table f...
Leather
Lounge Table by Poltrona Frau
By Poltrona Frau
Located in Rivoli, IT
Rare coffee table signed Poltrona Frau in Tuscan leather. Discontinued model. Excellent vintage condition. Coffee table with a good presence and mult...
Leather, Wood
Sold
H 13 in W 67 in D 31 in
Black Steel and Stone Ouverture Cocktail Table by Cerri for Frau, Italy, 1980's
By Poltrona Frau, Pierluigi Cerri
Located in Austin, TX
From his Ouverture series for Poltrona Frau, cocktail table by Pierluigi Cerri. Black steel with polished black stone top. Stone is reminiscent of polished absolute black granite. A ...
Stone, Steel
Vintage Small Bar Table Frau, Italy, 1970s
By Poltrona Frau
Located in Roma, IT
Small bar table Frau is an original decorative furniture realized in Italy in the 1970s. Made in Italy. Created by FRAU. Velvet, wood, leather...
Glass, Leather, Velvet, Wood
Poltrona Frau Vintage Leather Coffee Table
By Poltrona Frau
Located in Miami, FL
Superb square vintage coffee table by Poltrona Frau, red leather and smoke mirror. Original vintage condition, nice and rare piece from a Monaco apartment estate.
Leather, Mirror
Pair of Italian Side Tables in Leather and Chrome by Poltrona Frau
By Poltrona Frau
Located in Peabody, MA
Pair of side tables, made in Italy, by Poltrona Frau. Frameworks in highly polished mirrored chrome, and tops covered in genuine leather in vibrant red. Can be used as end tables or ...
Chrome