Wicked wickerwork: Best known for its luxurious stone tiles and dramatic stone basins, Antica, The Stone Gallery, in Dublin 14, has branched into a furniture range that shows wicker can be funky.

New and exclusive to the Churchtown store is a highly unusual collection of furniture from Italian company Bonacina.

Made from natural materials such as wicker, rush, rattan, cane and pith the range is a far cry from the cheap and nasty wicker wear we are so used to in Ireland.

A modern aesthetic mixed with new technologies combine to deliver unusual furniture combining steel, wicker, leather and linen.

Bonacina is the maker of the original egg chair, a hanging wicker armchair on a steel ring. Designed in 1957, the organic and cosy chair looks seriously funky today. Price €1,897.

For a more traditional look check out the company's Lario range of sofas and armchairs. The sofa is low-backed with a linen seat and back. The arms are made from a fine woven wicker mat with leather border fixed with brass cuff links.

Price €5,181 for sofa, €2,679 for armchair and €1,116 for a very groovy matching coffee table with mirror top.

Owner of Antica, Paddy McQuaid, fell in love with the Bonacina range when he purchased two super funky lounge chairs for his own home.

The seriously eye-catching Baialonga is a chair that calls for lots of afternoon lounging. The asymmetric chair has a large left or right formed armrest made from woven leather.

The back and the seat are made from a suede-style material. Price €4,087.

Bonacina also has an interesting range of wicker garden furniture.

"Wicker with a difference," the range is a great combination of traditional techniques and fresh ideas, says McQuaid.

Antica, The Stone Gallery, Earlscourt Industrial Estate, Beaumont Avenue, Churchtown, Dublin 14. Tel: 01 2960136.