Venetian Shopping
Venice is uniquely famous for its local crafts that have been produced here for centuries and are hard to get elsewhere: the glassware from Murano, the delicate lace from Burano, and the marbled paper. You’ll find them in specialized botteghe, (shops) where you can watch artisans paint amid their wares.
In a city that, for centuries, has thrived almost exclusively on tourism, it is very hard to find an authentic product made in Venice rather than China. There are so few women left on Burano willing to spend countless tedious hours keeping alive the art of lace-making ,that the few pieces you’ll see that are not produced by machine in China, are sold at stratospheric prices. Ditto on the truly high-quality glass.
Still, exceptions are to be found in all of the above, and when you find them you’ll know. A discerning eye can cut through the mass-produced junk to find some lovely mementos.
Fabrics have always been an expression of prestige and elegance, both when worn and when used in home decoration. Antonia’s Sautter, Venetia, whose evocative name means “Noble - trader” stands in a magnificent backdrop of the Serenissima. Her line of precious fabrics (silks, velvets, linens) printed in the antique tradition of Mariano Fortuny and a Venetian artist whose work spans the nineteen and twentieth centuries and completely expressed the synthesis of both the Eastern and Western influences in Venice. If you have time, enjoy perusing the small shop for corals, masks , puppets, slippers, and precious small Objets d’ Arts (art objects).
The charming showroom of Venitia Studium, located close to the Piazza San Marco. It offers a representation of the different products of the Venetian studios that range from the exclusive production of the Fortuny lamps, to the creation of a vast range of interior design items such as cushions, wall-hangings, table-runners, and clothing accessories such as scarves, dresses and small bags you can easily fit in your suitcase.
Joelle’s Tips:
Antiques
The interesting Mercatino dell’Antiquariato (Antiques Fair) takes place three times annually in the charming Campo San Maurizio between Piazza San Marco and Campo Santo Stefano. Dates change yearly for the 3-day weekend market but generally fall the first weekend of April, mid-September, and the weekend before Christmas. More than 100 vendors sell everything from the sublime piece of Murano glass to quirky dust-collectors.
Glass
If you’re going to go all out, look no further than Venini, Piazetta dei Leoni 314 (tel. 041-522-4045), since 1921 one of the most respected and innovative glassmakers in all of Venice. Their products are more works of art than merely blown glass. So renowned are they for their quality, Versace’s own line of glass objets d’art are done by Venini. Their workshop on Murano is at Fondamenta Vetrai 50 (tel. 041-273-7211). Cheap they are not, but no one else has such a lovely or original representation of hand- blown Murano glassware.
Glass beads are called “Venetian pearls,” and an abundance of exquisite antique and reproduced baubles are the draw at Anticlea, at Castello 4719 (on the Campo San Provolo in the direction of the Church of San Zaccaria; tel. 041-528-6946). Once used for trading in Venice’s far-flung colonies, they now fill the coffers of this small shop east of Piazza San Marco, sold singly or already strung. The open-air stall of Susie and Andrea (Riva degli Schiavoni, near Pensione Wildner; just ask) has handcrafted beads that are new, well made and strung, and moderately priced. The stall operates from February through November.
Jewelry
Tiny Antichità Zaggia, Dorsoduro 1195 (Calle della Toletta; tel. 041-522-3159), specializes in genuine antique jewelry (and glassware) of the highest quality and beautiful designs.
The jewelers at Esperienze, Cannaregio 326B (Ponte delle Guglie; tel. 041-721-866), marry their own art with the local glassblowing traditions to create unique pins, necklaces, and other jewelry.
Linens & Lace
A doge’s ransom will buy you an elaborately worked tablecloth at Jesurum (my favourite), at Cannaregio 3219 (tel. 041-524-2540), with another shop at Piazza San Marco 60-61 (tel. 041-520-6177; ), but some of the small items make gorgeous, affordable gifts for discerning friends for under 10€ ($13): small drawstring pouches for your baubles, hand-embroidered linen cocktail napkins in different colors, or hand-finished lace doilies and linen coasters.
For hand-tatted lace from the only school still teaching it in Venice, ride out to Burano to visit the Scuola dei Merletti, Piazza B. Galuppi (tel. 041-730-034), founded in 1872, closed in 1972, and reopened in 1981.
Paper Products
Biblos, with shops in San Marco at 739 (Mercerie S. Zulian), 2087 (Via XXII Marzo), and 221 (Mercerie de l’Orolorgio; tel. 041-521-0714 or 041-521-908; ), carries leather-bound blank books and journals, marbleized paper, enameled pill boxes, watercolor etchings, and fountain pens.
If you’re a real fan of marbleizing, the tiny workshop of Ebrû di Federica Novello, San Marco 1920 (Calle della Fenince; tel. 041-528-6302), applies the technique to silk ties and scarves as well as paper.
Foodstuffs
Food lovers will find charmingly packaged food products for themselves or friends at the well-known pasta manufacturer Giacomo Rizzo near the major Coin department store, northeast of the Rialto Bridge at Cannaregio 5778 at Calle San Giovanni Grisostomo (tel. 041-522-2824). You’ll find pasta made in the shape of gondolas, colorful carnival hats, and dozens of other imaginatively shaped possibilities (colored and flavored with squash, beet, and spinach).
Those with a sweet tooth should head in the opposite direction, to Giancarlo Vio’s Pasticceria Marchini, just before Campo Santo Stefano (San Marco 2769 at Ponte San Maurizio; tel. 041-522-9109), where the selection of traditional cookies are beautifully prepackaged for traveling — delicate Baicoli, cornmeal raisin Zaleti, and the S-shaped Buranelli.
