Ca' Macana has made papier-mache carnival masks in Venice since 1984 from its workshop at Dorsoduro 3215. Each mask is formed by hand from a gesso mould and finished with fabrics and feathers, or with gold or silver leaf. Classic bauta and moretta forms follow paintings by Pietro Longhi and Francesco Guardi. Its masks appeared in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut, and the workshop runs mask-making courses.
Best for True Venetian carnival masks.
Ca' Macana has made papier-mache masks in Venice since 1984, working from a workshop at Dorsoduro 3215. Every mask is formed by hand from a gesso mould, so each one carries the hand of the artisan who made it. The decoration draws on fabrics and feathers, Swarovski crystals and gold or silver leaf. Classic Venetian forms such as the bauta and the moretta are reproduced from paintings by Pietro Longhi and Francesco Guardi. Drawings by Giovanni Grevembroch supply further models. The workshop holds a full set of Commedia dell'Arte characters from the harlequin to the colombina. Contemporary designs are made with the same techniques. The masks have appeared in Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut and in Fifty Shades of Grey. They have also dressed productions at the Vienna Opera and fashion photography for Vogue Japan. Alongside the shop the workshop teaches. Decoration courses and a mask-making course are open to visitors, along with family workshops. Mini-lectures cover the history of the bauta and the plague doctor mask, and workshop visits are arranged for tour groups and company outings. The site also publishes a guide to buying masks in Venice. It warns that industrial imitations have crowded out authentic pieces since the 1980s and explains how to tell a handmade Venetian mask from a copy.
Family lace and linen house in a 1700s building on Piazza Galuppi, Burano, where four generations have worked Burano lace. A family museum upstairs keeps 18th century wedding garments and antique lace. Beyond lace it makes bespoke home linen for residences and hotels, and it also furnishes yachts and private jets. Three boutiques: the Burano flagship and workshop, one inside the Belmond Hotel Cipriani in Venice and one in Los Angeles.
Best for Burano lace and bespoke bed and table linen made on the island
Emilia Burano is a family lace and linen house on Piazza Galuppi on the island of Burano, in the Venice lagoon. The boutique and workshop occupy a traditional Burano building from the 1700s, which the house calls the Factory of Emilia. For four generations the family has worked with Burano lace, and the master crafters inside the store pass their lace making methods from mother to daughter. One flight up, a family museum holds 18th century wedding garments and antique pieces of lace that trace the family history. The house remains a family owned business and no longer confines its work to lace alone. It also produces bespoke home linen for private residences and hotels, and it also furnishes the interiors of yachts and private jets. Its stated philosophy rests on quality and handmade work under the banner of Made in Italy. Emilia Burano lists three boutiques, with the flagship store and workshop on Burano, a second inside the Belmond Hotel Cipriani in Venice and a third in Los Angeles. The wider range covers bed and table linen together with bath robes and towels, then cashmere throws and silk lingerie, and handkerchiefs for gifts. Worldwide shipping is offered from the Burano workshop through the online store.
Il Forcolaio Matto is Piero Dri's Venetian workshop, where he hand-carves forcole and oars for gondolas using techniques dating to the city's 1307 remer guild, selling finished pieces from his Cannaregio bottega and online shop. Visitors can book a paid studio tour to watch him shape walnut into the traditional rowlocks.
Best for Visitors can book a paid studio tour to watch him shape walnut
Arzanàrt hand-makes Venetian marbled paper in its Venice workshop, floating oil paints on water and combing them into veined patterns, a technique first used in Venice in 1600. The studio's work is credited to Federico for marbled paper and Isabella for paper creations.
Bottega Casati Venezia has followed the tradition of marbled paper and bookbinding since 1983 from Cannaregio in Venice's historic center, near La Fenice. Owner Stefano Casati's workshop makes notebooks, photo albums, masks and document holders from its own marbled paper, hand-printed velvet and Italian leather.
Ferro Toso makes murrine and Murano glass jewelry, including pendants, necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets, from its workshop at Fondamenta Serenella in Murano. The company also runs hands-on murrina-making workshops for visitors under its own motto, dalla tradizione all'innovazione.
ScribaVenice hand-paints marbled paper into books, photo frames and wax seals, and pairs it with Murano glass pens and lenses, each sheet made unique by its painting technique. The workshop is located at Salizada San Lio in Venice's Castello district, under proprietor Giuseppe Ferlito.
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