Craftsmanship Tradition Shines in Old Italy
Contemporary Florentine artisans are heirs to a magnificent crafts tradition dating back to the Renaissance, when Florence ruled supreme in the realm of the arts.
In modern Florence those ancient and time-consuming techniques for wood and metal working and other crafts are practiced in small ateliers by artisans who proudly uphold the city’s high standards of workmanship.
Many Florentine artisans studied in traditional apprenticeships, training with master craftsmen to learn time-proven techniques and develop personal skills.
Due to union regulations and economic pressures, the apprenticeship system has all but disappeared in recent years. Regular trade schools offer less personalized training and are less demanding. As a result, say old-time artisans, many special techniques are likely to be lost forever. The most highly skilled craftsmen anticipate a decline in their number in coming years.
Take the opportunity to visit Florentine artisans in their ateliers before that happens. Most of them work at restoring and reselling antique furniture and objets d’art, mostly Italian and dating from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Some skilled craftsmen produce excellent copies of antique pieces or take custom orders to create new works.
A substantial cluster of ateliers is near the Pitti Palace on the south bank of the Arno River, in a triangular area bordered by Borgo San Jacopo (between Ponte Vecdchio and Ponte San Trinita), Via Guicciardini and Via Maggio. The ateliers are hidden away in narrow side streets that run between Via Maggio and Via Guicciardini.
Numbered in Red
Donatdo Polcri is a master woodworker who has restored the Renaissance doors of the famous Uffizi Gallery in his atelier at Via Dei Vellute 6r (the “r” stands for rosso or red; in Florence, businesses are numbered in red to distinguish them from residences that are numbered in black).
When you visit the atelier you can watch Polcri carefully apply his techniques and skill to repair beautiful furniture and other pieces dating from the 18th Century. Polcri offers restored items for sale. There are gilded mirror frames (about $2,500 and up), intricately carved candle holders (about $500 per pair) and fabulous tables and chests (about $3,500 and up).
Four doors away, at Via Dei Vellute 16r, Lamberto Casini uses vintage woods to restore antique furniture so flawlessly that it is difficult to discern where the original part ends and the restoration begins. Those who watch Casini work will be tempted to buy one of his rebuilt masterpieces. Prices for restored tables and chairs begin at about $500 and range into the thousands. Beautiful art nouveau tables, for example, cost about $3,000, and 18th-Century chests of drawers are about $7,000 and up.
A Menagerie in Metal
Antique metal objects are restored at Giancarlo Giachetti’s atelier at Via Toscanella 3-5r, but this metal sculptor also creates his own menagerie of fantastic metal animals and birds. These creatures, suspended from the ceiling and perched on table and cabinet tops, have been energetically hammered, bent and coaxed into shape by Giachetti’s skillful hands. Smaller animal sculptures and very attractive lanterns sell for about $150 and up.
In addition to the ateliers, this area abounds in highly reputed antique dealers, many of whom employ local artisans to restore damaged antiques. Via Maggio, stretching from Ponte San Trinita to the Pitti Palace, is Florence’s antique row. Fine galleries lining both sides of the street may be too expensive for many buyers, but browsing through their museum-quality collections is free.
The following list of Via Maggio shops is in numerical order:
Mary Pavan (No. 1) sells exquisite and very expensive 16th- and 17th-Century Tuscan and Florentine marquetry tables and gaming boards and glazed ceramic works of art from the ateliers of Della Robbia and other masters.
Fantasie del Passato (No. 7) features Italian pottery and glassware, mostly dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Prices for lovely art nouveau and deco pieces, including colorful vases and pretty platters, are reasonable. More expensive are rarer, older pieces. A beautiful 18th-Century majolica urn, for example, costs about $6,000.
Feast for the Eyes
Lo Stipo (No. 9), offering a large selection of late Renaissance furniture and paintings, is a real feast for the eyes.
Antichita Lorena (No. 10) specializes in 18th-Century furniture, clocks and glass. Merchandise is exquisite and expensive. For example, a beautiful museum-quality burled briar chest of drawers, dating from around 1760, costs about $20,000.
Close to each other, Giovanni Pratesi (No. 13), Gallori Turchi (No. 14) and Guido Bartolozzi (No. 18) show expansive collections of superb, high-quality Italian inlaid and gilded furniture dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. Magnificent displays include fabulous 16th-Century tapestries, paintings and wooden sculptures. Gallori Turchi also specializes in engraved and carved antique arms, especially pistols, and Guido Bartolozzi features items of Florentine origin dating from the 16th Century.
Mirella Piselli (No. 23) offers antique embroideries. Exceptionally beautiful vestments and other religious items, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, sell for about $8,000 and up. Piselli also sells tapestries and smaller embroidered works. Recent pieces are less expensive.
Adriana Chelini (No. 28) displays an exquisite collection of 17th- and 18th-Century furniture and objets d’art in an elegant, exclusive environment enhanced by her shop’s parquet floors and damask-covered walls. Antique Italian porcelains are used to accessorize elaborately carved and gilded 18th-Century Tuscan tables. The tables come in pairs and sell for about $15,000.
Museum-Quality Silver
Paolo Paoletti (No. 30) offers very expensive, museum-quality silver and objets d’art, including painted stucco reliefs of religious subjects dating from the 15th and 16th centuries.
Bottega San Felice (No. 39) displays two rooms of Art Deco furniture, much of it Meroni and Fossati and other famous designers. A 1930s vanity table with glistening mother of pearl veneer sells for about $15,000. Smaller, less expensive items include hand mirrors, vases, desk and smoking accessories in excellent condition.
Art Studio (No. 41) is selectively stocked with exceptional antique porcelain pieces from Europe and the Orient. The shop’s collection includes magnificent Chinese platters with intricate and colorful floral designs dating from the mid-18th Century and selling for about $20,000.
Il Maggiolino (No. 80) has marvelous Italian and French antique watches and other jewelry. Timepieces date from the 1880s to the 1940s and sell for about $250 and up. Other jewelry includes Victorian and deco baubles, with a wide range of prices.
Nearby, at Piazza Frescobaldi 2 (near Ponte San Trinita), Kolligian Franceschi is a repository for carved and painted wooden objets d’art dating from the 16th Century. The shop is cluttered with exquisite items including religious statues with moving limbs (about $400 and up), ornately carved and gilded picture frames (about $1,000 and up) and reliquaries elaborately painted or decorated with ivory inlay (about $1,200 and up).
A tiny shop named Cose del ‘900 (Borgo San Jacopo 45) is filled with “things of the 1900s,” including Italian Art Deco picture frames for about $35 and up, partial or complete sets of dishes and glassware for about $8 (per item) and up, and deco table top or mantle clocks in perfect working order for about $200 and up.
A Few Fakers
Fortunately there are not many fakers in this district, but it’s possible for a superb reproduction or copy to find its way into an otherwise legitimate collection. Buyers should safeguard investments carefully by obtaining provenance papers and certificates of authenticity from dealers.
Objects more than 50 years old are subject to a progressive tax starting at 8% for the first $750, and must be cleared for export. Most antique dealers and restorers will make export and shipping arrangements. Otherwise, clearance forms may be obtained from the Italian Art Export Office (2b Via Lambertesca).