Antiques
Although the antiques shops
around San Maurizio and Santa
Maria Zobenigo cater for the
wealthier collectors, bargain
hunters should be able to pick
something up at the antiques
fairs that crop up throughout
the year...
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Art materials
Should you want to add your
own contribution to the
stockpile of visual images of
Venice, all the necessary
materials can be bought in the
city. The best-known supplier
is Testolino on Fondamenta
Orseolo, north of the Piazza,
though Seguso, in nearby...
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Books
Alberto Bertoni , Rio Terrą
degli Assassini 3637/b, San
Marco. For remaindered and
secondhand books, including a
number of art-book bargains.
Ca' Foscarina , Campiello
Squellini 3243, Dorsoduro.
Good range of non-Italian
titles amid...
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Clothes
As you'd expect, many of the
top-flight Italian designers
and fashion houses - Versace,
Missoni, Krizia, MaxMara,
Trussardi, Gucci, Armani,
Prada, Valentino and Dolce e
Gabbana (the only ones with a
local connection) - are
represented in Venice, most
of...
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Glass
As with lace, for Venetian
glass you're better off going
to the main source of
production, in this case
Murano . The Piazza and its
environs are prowled by
well-groomed young characters
offering free boat trips to
the island - on no...
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Jewelry
Anticlea Antiquariato, Calle
San Provolo 4719a, Castello.
Specialising in the glass
beads known as perle veneziane
, with ready-made jewellery,
or drawers of beads to choose
from. Codognato , Calle
Secondo...
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Lace
It's cheaper to buy lace on
Burano than in the centre of
Venice, but be warned that the
cheapest stuff is machine-made
and not from Burano either.
The hand-made work sold at the
island's Scuola dei Merletti
is expensive, though not...
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Masks
Many of the Venetian masks on
sale today are derived from
the Carnevale of old: the ones
representing characters from
the Commedia dell'Arte (Pierrot,
Harlequin, Columbine) for
example, and the classic white
half-mask called a ...
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Prints, postcards, paper
and stationery
Postcards are on sale
everywhere, though the fund of
images isn't as imaginative as
it could be. Just inside the
Basilica di San Marco there's
a stall selling a vast spread
of good quality cards of the
church and its mosaics, and
many of the city's...
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Shoes, bags and leather
As far as chic shoes, bags and
wallets go, the shops around
the Mercerie , Frezzeria and
Calle Goldoni are not as
expensive as they might first
appear, and sales are a
regular occurrence in the
Mercerie. If you can...
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Miscellaneous
All manner of small
handmade
gifts in wood, tapestry
and various other materials
can be found at Toti Campizi
in Calle Marcello, off Campo
S. Marina (Castello).
Jigsaw-like wooden objects -
musical instruments, palace
facades - are sold by Signor
Blum at Campo S. Barnaba (Dorsoduro).
Somewhat stranger wooden
creations are on sale from
the workshops of Livio de
Marchi, in Salizzada S.
Samuele (San Marco), and
Loris Murazzi, on Campo S.
Margherita (Dorsoduro):
life-sized battered shoes
and hanging items of
underwear are among the more
portable items, and if you
have the transport you could
take back a gigantic bundle
of wooden paintbrushes.
Models, model kits and
elegantly drawn plans for
Venetian
boats are sold at La
Scialuppa, Gilberto Penzo's
shop at Calle Seconda
Saoneri (San Polo).
Lastly, aficionados of
souvenir kitsch can
have a field day around the
main tourist traps,
especially the Lista di
Spagna (Cannaregio): plastic
gondolas set against blurred
photos and fixed in
illuminated plastic frames;
gondolas that play O Sole
Mio , gondola
cigarette-lighters . . . the
list is endless.
