The Maremma differs markedly from other parts of Tuscany in terms of landscape and social and economic history. There is at least one thing that this area has in common with the rest of the region: extensive woodland and a century?s long tradition of making the most of it.

In this land of farming, mining and foundries, the Maremmani have always relied heavily on forests for their needs. Coppice wood was turned into charcoal to power machines and furnaces or for domestic use. The branches of chestnut trees were used to make baskets or carefully selected peeled and treated to make fence poles. Chestnut wood was also commonly used to make work tools, barrels and even small boats, while olive wood was preferred for carving kitchen utensils and dining sets. People went hunting in the forests and the typical Maremma cattle also grazed there; the pinewoods, on the other hand were a rich source of pine kernels. It was a small largely self-sufficient world where the various crafts complemented one another, a micro economy in which wood was an essential component.

New sources of energy have of course superseded charcoal, but wood seems to have retained its privileged place amongst the materials used by local craftspeople for realization of a wide variety of objects. The introduction of machines has brought no significant change in production; technology is no more than a useful tool in the experienced hands of the craftsmen. The objects themselves are those handed down by tradition: kneading troughs, kitchen dressers, cupboards and the square tables which were once a familiar sight in country cottages throughout region.

All those furniture of rural homes in past years was simple poor but functional; and today people like the rustic style because it is old, friendly, cozy and classic; and also because it reflects an art of making that has succeeded in being competitive, modern and innovative without betraying tradition or resorting to automated industrial production processes. This explains why this cultural environment has managed to preserve ancient crafts traditionally defined as rural.

The wood models and objectives produced in Maremma can be founded in city and country houses well beyond the confines of their native Maremma.