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Antichità Claudia Zaggia
Nadia Viani runs this little Aladdin's Cave of, well, just about anything. Depending on the day, you might discover an Art Nouveau necklace, preloved pearls, old glassware, or rosy-faced ceramic dolls from another era.
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Antiquus
This inviting shop along the continuation of Calle delle Botteghe, where several antiques stores reside, boasts a solid collection of old masters, silver and antique jewellery. In among the few items of furniture sit grand tea sets and other aristocratic bric-a-brac. Just wandering around all this social history is a pleasure for the eyes.
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Arca
The designs in this eye-catching shop are powerful and, for some, the colours are possibly a little strong. Teresa della Valentina paints her tiles and other ceramic objects in bold, bright, deep colours, with reds dominant.
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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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Artistica Ferro
Want a perfect replica fero de prova (the iron piece that graces the prow of the gondola and represents the six sestieri of Venice)? This is your place.
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Bac Art Studio
This studio has paintings, aquatints and engravings signed by two local artists, Cadore and Paolo Baruffaldi, that make fine gifts. Cadore concentrates his commercial efforts on Venetian scenes, while Baruffaldi depicts masked people. Other artists are thrown into the mix.
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Berengo
Here is a purveyor of glass that has long abandoned any pretence of functionality in its products. This is glass for art's sake and the company's master glass-makers work to designs by contemporary artists, such as Turin-born Riccardo Licata, long a lagoon resident.
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Bochaleri In Campo
Held around the last weekend of April on Campo Bandiera e Moro, this pottery market attracts ceramicists with their variegated handmade plates, pots, jewellery, jars and more from all over the Veneto.
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Bugno Art Gallery
This gallery has some works by contemporary artists on permanent display, although money is the object. While you might not be able to afford a Miró or De Chirico, there's plenty of other material for the modern-art collector.
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Ca' Macana
Wander in and watch the artists at work on the raw papier-mâché of future masks. Apparently Stanley Kubrick was impressed - he placed a rather large order for his last picture, Eyes Wide Shut . Along black walls the finished products gaze down at you, beckoning to be donned.
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El Fero Novo
At his workshop and highly original enterprise, Primo Bollani churns out all sorts of fanciful sculptures in iron, from dreamlike monuments such as bridges and towers to odd-looking gondolas.
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Galleria Ferruzzi
Roberto Ferruzzi's images of Venice are an engaging, almost naive version of what we see. With fat brushstrokes and primary colours, the artist creates a kind of children's gingerbread Venice. On sale are screen prints, paintings and postcards.
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Galleria Traghetto
A stalwart on the Venetian art scene since the 1970s, this is one of the most respected of the few Venetian galleries dealing in contemporary art, most of it Italian but open to international flavours. Exhibitions are in continual flux.
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Il Papiro
A bright, spacious stationer's, the Florentine chain store Il Papiro (with three branches in Venice) doesn't pretend to compete with the handful of traditional marbled-paper shops around town. But it does offer everything from elegant envelopes to letter openers and quills.
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Jesurum Outlet
Jesurum is one of the traditional names in Venetian lace, in business since the late 19th century. Set back from the fondamenta (canalside street) is a huge warehouse and workshop where you can buy ready-made pieces (from pillow cases to doilies) or you can ask for made-to-measure items.
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L'arlecchino
The folks at L'Arlecchino claim the masks are made only with papier-mâché to their own designs. To prove it you can inspect the workshop. The quality of masks, which hang at all levels in this cramped shop and together form what could be the outlandish spectators in a tightly packed dream-world theatre, is unquestionable.
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L'isola
L'Isola stocks glass objects designed by Carlo Moretti, one of the leading names in high-end glassware. His style switches radically from sober black and transparent bowls and vases to primal colour glassware, from twirling but understated champagne flutes to monochrome dishes.
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La Galleria Van Der Koelen
Long established in Germany, this branch of the van der Koelen gallery brings a note of contemporary vigour to the somewhat staid Venetian art scene. The gallery frequently stages fine exhibitions of internationally known artists, well worth seeing whether you're a buyer or not.
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Legatoria Piazzesi
At the Legatoria Piazzesi, the oldest purveyor of quality paper products in Venice (and they claim in all Italy), time-honoured methods are employed to turn out high-class items. The store is a dark but tempting treasure trove, with shelves of paper stacked to the timber-beamed roof. Products range from parchments and quality wrapping paper to unique book covers.
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Livio de Marchi
Featuring wooden sculptures of underpants, socks and shirts, this shop is rather strange but somewhat endearing all the same. Just how you might incorporate a fine carving of an unironed shirt into your living room's décor is another question.
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Marco Polo
One of the handful of larger reliable glass merchants in Murano, Marco Polo offers you the opportunity to see the masters at work, a large display of traditional glassware, the possibility of having objects tailor-made and sent to your country and, upstairs, a quasimuseum of contemporary art in glass by local master Andres Pagnes and international names such as Tony Cragg and Costas Varotsos.
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Martinuzzi
Pick up high-class doilies at one of the city's traditional purveyors of fine Burano lace -recognised world-wide as classic Venice. This little store is draped in luxurious lace and also festooned with Murano glass.
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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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Murano Collezioni
One elegantly presented showroom showcases an assortment of fine glassware by three of Murano's most prestigious creators, Barovier & Toso, Venini and Carlo Moretti. The emphasis is on useful objects rather than florid artistic pieces. Prices are restrained but you pay for quality: A champagne flute can still set you back around €200 . If you only make one glass-shopping stop in Venice and want to be sure of quality, this should probably be it.
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Perle E Dintorni
Pick up handfuls of multicoloured glass beads from the baskets in the window and at the counter to make your own cheerful and affordable costume jewellery, or have them craft something for you. There is also ready-made stuff at this light-hearted store. Bead-making has a centuries-long history in Venice.
