When presidents Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron faced each other at either end of an improbably long, white table last week, the image became a metaphor for the fraught negotiations over Ukraine.
Now the table stakes have been raised after furniture makers in Spain and Italy both claimed that they were commissioned by the Kremlin to make the now famous four-metre-long table.
Vicente Zaragozá, head of the furniture company that bears his name in Alcàsser, near Valencia, says he is in no doubt that the work is his.
In an interview on Spanish radio on Tuesday, Zaragozá said that as soon as he saw the photograph he started examining the table for defects. “I have an eye for the smallest defects so that we can keep improving,” he said, adding that the table was made from Alpine white beech inlaid with gold leaf.
However, Renato Pologna, owner of Oak, a family-run furniture business based in Como, is baffled by the Spaniard’s claims.
“Look, this is a story I’ve been hearing about for the past few days,” Pologna said. “Sincerely, I don’t know what to say, because I did this work in 1995-96 and photos of the table were published in books, mostly Russian ones, which were officially published in 2000.
“This man, who I don’t know, says he made this table in 2005 – therefore, something doesn’t quite add up. As proof we have all the certificates for the work done, and even the recognition of the president, who at the time was Boris Yeltsin.”
The Spanish company, which ceased trading in July 2020 and whose Facebook page is in English and Russian, worked on numerous commissions to make furniture for the Kremlin and former Soviet republics from 2002-2006, among them the Uzbek president’s kitchen and dining room.
Zaragozá broke down in tears as he told the interviewer: “We have made bigger and more beautiful tables, but seeing photographs of this table makes me proud that, as a Spaniard and a Valencian, I have done something worthwhile.”
Pologna remains unmoved. “The books published in 2000 show the interiors of the Kremlin building where you see a photo of the table made by us,” he said. “Maybe the Spanish guy made a copy that went somewhere else, who knows. We’re talking about a table, not an aircraft. It could be that he made a copy.”
Something similar today would cost around 100,000 euros
Pologna said the table top was made from a single sheet of beech wood, supported on three hollowed wooden stands. It is lacquered white and is gold-plated on the side.
“If you wanted to buy something similar today, it would cost around 100,000 euros ($113,660)” Pologna said. “It was lovely to see photos of the table everywhere. Let’s hope it brings some luck and stops a war (in Ukraine).”
Under the 1990s contract, Oak decorated some 7,000 square metres of the Kremlin, spread out over two floors, including the president’s private residence.
Pologna said the space had been gutted by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, so Russian designers had scoured the archives to recreate the look of the place before the 1917 Russian Revolution, providing Oak with designs for each room.
The contract was worth between 40 and 50 million euros, with all the furniture built in Italy and then flown to Russia, where it was passed through giant scanners to check for bugging devices, before being carried into the Kremlin.
It is the largest single order that Oak has ever had, but Pologna said his company had worked around the globe, including in royal palaces in Brunei and Thailand.
Oak was founded by Pologna’s grandfather and employs some 50 people. “This is the best of Italy,” he said. “Family businesses which pass on skills and resources from generation to generation.”
Photo – Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and French President Emmanuel Macron (R) meet in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 07 February 2022. EPA-EFE/KREMLIN POOL / SPUTNIK / POOL
Via Reuters/ The Guardian
