Antiques shopping in Italy
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Comics Bazar
Not a comic in sight – this attic-like treasure-trove is crammed to its rafters with antiques. Wade through the lamps that hang everywhere like jungle creepers and you’ll find old dolls, framed prints and furniture dating from the 19th century to the 1940s, including pieces by the 19th-century Viennese designer Thonet. You might even find the shopkeeper hidden away among it all.
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Mauro Bolognesi
Midcentury shops are surprisingly thin on the ground in Milan (presumably because everyone was wise enough to hold onto their hand-me-down Arco lamps and Murano art glass). That makes this collection - Danimarca sideboards, white-on-white biomorphic vases, colour-blocked wall hangings and Kay Bojesen monkeys scampering up the walls - all the more special.
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Adam
Looking for a Renaissance pistol? Pick one up at this offbeat ode to all things vintage Italian. It's all here, from antique Ischian urns and handmade Punchinello dolls to shining armour (knight not included). Take a detour through the leafy back garden, complete with giant lemons, sleepy turtles and one very determined pussycat.
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Campiello Ca’ Zen
Antique Murano glass lamps are the last thing you’d want to cram in your luggage – or so you thought before you saw the 1940s Salviati silver chandelier and the rare Scarpa table lamp. That hand-blown golden goblet seems practical in comparison, but here’s a dangerous thought: they ship.
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Animalier e Oltre
This basement appears to be full of the cast-offs of an eccentric, aristocratic family, with bric-a-brac, curios, antiques and unique furniture. Wrought-iron furniture and leather sofas sit alongside a selection of animal-shaped antiques that includes reproductions of 19th-century French animalier sculptures.
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Wannenes Il XX Secolo
Aurelie and Sophie Wannenes father’s collecting philosophy was ‘a few things but good ones’ and it’s reflected in their shop of carefully chosen 20th-century furniture, artwork and objects. Among the Deco gems and museum-quality pieces from the likes of Gio Ponti and Fornasetti are unique but affordable treasures.
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Nardecchia
You’ll be inviting people to see your etchings after a visit to this historic Piazza Navona shop, famed for its antique prints. Nardecchia sells everything from 18th-century etchings by Giovanni Battista Piranesi to more affordable 19th-century panoramas. Bank on about €120 for a small framed print.
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Mercatino dell'antiquariato
Three times a year this antiques market sets up, to the delight of collectors far and wide. It's hard to plan a visit around it as dates shift and it happens so infrequently (generally in April, September and December).
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H
Mercato dei Pulci
While prices are much higher than the name implies (mercato dei pulci means flea market), this outdoor market is nevertheless still worth a gander for patient pickers game to bring home a piece of Old Tuscany.
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Lumieres
Cut a swath through the metallic stalks that have all but taken over this delightfully unpretentious shop and you’ll discover a large collection of antique lamps, ranging from Art Nouveau and Art Deco to 1950s.
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Crazy Art
When you really must have a boar skeleton, Victorian kiosk, a few demented rocking horses or a ship’s steering wheel. Leave the real world at the door. Did someone just say fashion shoot?
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Ginger
This hole-in-the-wall antique store has a friendly owner who is happy to walk you through his wealth of treasures and curios, including a small treasured collection of Staffordshire.
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Arte Ebraica
Purveys all sorts of handmade objects in bronze, filigree silver, pewter, crystal and ceramics (such as mezuzahs, or parchment cases). It also deals in rare books and manuscripts.
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Al Leone d’Oro
The medieval streets around Sant’Ambrogio yield a host of surprises, not least this antique shop with a spectacular collection of paintings, and jewellery from the 1930s to 1950s.
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Amico Pietro
Erice has a number of fairly good antique shops, one of the best being Amico Pietro, which sells quality ceramics, some lovely lacework and presepi (Nativity figurines).
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