When the final component of the decade-long renovation of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Greek and Roman galleries was finally unveiled in 2007, what the public didn’t see was an abundance of deadstock stone shelved during construction. Long relegated to storage, the offcuts can now grace your living room thanks to the natural stone enthusiasts at Sfrido Estate. Recently launched by Giacomo Canali, nephew to the founder of family-owned Italian stone purveyor EuroMarble, the brand intends to create limited-edition design objects using precious marble from its sister company’s quarries across Europe.
The brand’s inaugural Museum Collection is a sterling debut. Comprising four round-top tables designed by Milanese firm a617, each piece is clad top-to-bottom in interlocking marble offcuts. Bases are made of prestigious Statuario marble; Marinace, a rare sedimentary stone from Brazil sourced from the museum’s deadstock, forms the tops. “It comes from rivers filled with different rocks over centuries,” Canali tells Surface, “so each block presents a wide composition.”
Speaking of composition, Sfrido Estate’s future collections aim to tell stories through stone—something that Canali should have no trouble conveying when the brand officially debuts during Milan Design Week. “The legacy of my family put me in the position of knowing a lot about the natural stone industry, and I understood I was attached to it when my friend asked me why I couldn’t stop touching the walls of buildings while we were traveling,” he says. “My fascination with marbles, granites, travertines, and any kind of stones is a never-ending process where Mother Nature keeps teaching you. [She’s] the best designer.”
