#Italys #Collectibles #Deruta #Murano #Alessi #WorthPoint
Are you interested in finding the best antiques, collectibles, and souvenirs while traveling abroad? Check out our W.O.W. (WorthPoint in the Old World) articles for tips on the best finds and where to find them. Next stop: Italy!
Ciao! Whether you’re headed to Italy for business or pleasure, if you love all things vintage and collectibles, you’ll definitely be tempted to bring something back with you. Read on to learn some of the best collectibles, antiques, and vintage finds to seek on your next trip to the fabled boot.
From the Vatican to Pompeii
I have spent a fair amount of time in Italy, from simple vacations to a semester abroad in Rome. I can attest to the country’s enduring rich heritage, lively culture, persisting beauty, and legacy as a haven for lovers of art, antiques, and collectibles. Every region, city, town, street, and corner is an experience in itself. While you could take a trip to Italy and do the “greatest hits” of everything from the Vatican to Pompeii, you could also spend a month alone in a region like Tuscany or Lombardy and have a spectacular experience. Despite this, any visitor to Italy will be confronted with similar wares being hawked in shops from north to south, some of which are worth picking up and some worth passing.
Deruta Ceramics
Deruta ceramics are named after their town of origin in Umbria, Italy. They are easily recognizable by their bright colors, often atop white backgrounds, as well as their painterly and often floral decorations. Deruta pottery is earthenware with a tin glaze topped with painted designs. Believe it or not, the first Deruta pottery was made in the early Middle Ages.
Today, the town of Deruta is home to a museum of ceramics and over 200 ceramic shops and workshops, all making clay wares in the town’s signature styles. You can purchase Deruta finds right from the source or really anywhere in Italy, as shops from the north to south keep the wares on their shelves.
While the oldest known piece of Deruta pottery dates to about 1490, you are unlikely to find examples that old in antique shops. Still, antique shops are well worth a visit when sourcing old Deruta, and it is common to find plates, bowls, vases, and more dating back at least to the 19th century. Keep an eye out for pieces signed “Deruta Italy” in black or gray paint on the back or bottom.
Murano Glass
Another super familiar artisanal ware native to Italy is Murano glass, named after the island of Murano, just off the coast of Venice. Murano or “vetro veneziano” (Venetian glass) is typically crafted from hot glass-forming techniques and often elaborately decorated.
Like Deruta, Murano’s glassmaking dates back hundreds of years to the 13th century and has evolved over time. Like Deruta, Murano now has a Museo del Vetro (glass museum) as well as countless glass factories and artist studios.
Collectors seek objects from celebrated 20th-century glassmakers like Carlo Scarpa, whose designs can go for thousands. However, Murano glass is also easy to find all over Italy for prices as low as €10 for a small souvenir. If you are seeking vintage or antique examples of the famed glassware, be sure to stop in antique shops, especially in smaller towns in the Veneto region.
Alessi
One of the things I love about Italy is its continuous occupation as one of the centers of both art and design in the world, with companies like Alessi still very active today. Alessi is one of the world’s most famous industrial design companies. It was founded in the 1950s by brothers Carlo and Luigi Alessi. The brothers collaborated with established designers and architects such as Toyo Ito, Philippe Starck, and Zaha Hadid to make a wide range of everyday products for the home.
Alessi collectors can find current products not available outside of Italy in the brand’s flagship stores in cities like Milan as well as in department stores and smaller stores. For vintage Alessi, collectors can seek out vintage shops in northern Italian cities like Milan and Bologna to find lusted-after designs like the 1990 Philippe Starck Hot Bertaa Kettle, which can sell for nearly $40K on the secondary market. Other Alessi designers popular with collectors include Aldo Rossi, Michael Graves, and Hans Hollein.
Italian Fashion Finds
Italy is one of the world’s most fashionable countries, boasting cities like Milan as home to luxury brands such as Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, and Prada. While most casual visitors to Italy likely don’t have pockets deep enough to pick up a $20K souvenir Armani T-shirt, dare I say that it is not the end of the world to find a couple of knockoffs? One of the best purchases we made last month in Rome was a knock-off designer scarf bought for €12 from a street vendor, and it quickly got a lot of use as we popped into churches with dress codes. Some of the bigger churches offered a disposable cover-up at the entrance, but we quickly realized we didn’t want to look like we were wearing a plastic tablecloth the whole trip, so the €12 scarf was perfect.
You can also easily find designer knockoffs of purses and other leather goods all over Italy. For vintage knockoffs, check out vintage clothing stores in most major cities. You’ll be happy to save a few bucks on goodies to bring home while simultaneously reserving enough money to spend on all the pasta, pizza, and dolci you want while in the bel paese!
Amy Moyer is the proprietor of Antmuffin: Art, Antiques & Collectibles. She holds a B.A. in Visual Art from Brown University and lives in Boston.
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