Artisanal shopping in The Veneto
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A
Veneziastampa
Mornings are the best time to stop by to see the ancient blackened gears of the 1930s Heidelberg machine in action – but any time you stop by, you’ll smell printer’s ink drying and find fresh racks of etchings hot off the proverbial press. The stock here is a thrilling throwback to another time, when postcards were gorgeously lithographed, custom bookplates gently reminded book borrowers of their rightful owners and Casanovas invited dates upstairs to ‘look at my etchings’. Pick up original hand-stamped stationery with your choice of symbols – a meteor shower, a leaking faucet, a dandy – or invitation cards, menus and posters by local artists.
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B
Il Pavone di Paolo Pelosin
Consider Paolo’s hand-bound marbled-paper journals and photo albums a challenge: now it’s up to you to come up with Venice memories worthy of such inspired workmanship. Recipe books come in scrumptious violet and gold art-deco patterns, lagoon-swirled blue sketchbooks inspire sudden seascapes, and paper-wrapped pen sets seem to catch fire with flickers of orange and red.
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C
Gilberto Penzo
Yes, you actually can take a gondola home in your pocket. Anyone fascinated by the models at the Museo Storico Navale will go wild here, amid handmade wooden models of all kinds of Venetian boats, including some that are seaworthy (or at least bathtub-worthy). Signor Penzo also creates kits so crafty types and kids can have a crack at it themselves.
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D
Cartavenezia
Paper is anything but two-dimensional here: instead of being marbled, as has been the custom in Venice for 150 years, paper maestro Fernando di Masone embosses and sculpts handmade cotton paper into seamless raw-edged lampshades, hand-bound sketchbooks and paper versions of marble friezes that would seem equally at home in a Greek temple or modern loft.
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E
Kalimala Cuoieria
Sleekly supple belts with brushed-steel buckles, modern satchels, man-bags and knee-high red boots: Kalimala makes leather goods with comfort and modern style in mind. Given the natural tanning and top-flight leather, the prices are remarkably reasonable, with handmade shoes starting at around €100.
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F
Atelier Alessandro Merlin
Enjoy your breakfast in the nude, on a horse or atop a jellyfish – Alessandro Merlin paints them all on striking black and white cappuccino cups and saucers. His expressive characters are modern, but the sgraffito technique he uses on some of his work dates back to Roman times: designs are scratched white lines against a black background.
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G
Arte Vetro Murano
Shatter glass conventions with new styles by this family of Murano glass designers. Davide Penso makes a necklace of flat puddles of orange glass that have a molten-lava look about them, and his brother Artematte’s concatenation of silver and glass shimmers uncannily. Now Davide’s daughter Elisa has joined in the act, mixing glass with her own felt work. Note the store sometimes closes Wednesdays when Venice is slow.
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