Highest Levels of Skill & Art and other Venice, Italy Shopping Tips

Name of Shop: Zanetti Gallery

It wouldn't be Venice without the famous murano glass. Zanetti have been making beautiful and colorful vases, jars, glasses, candleholders and much more. What to shop exactly must be a difficult decision, since there is a wide choice of different objects.
All the items are produced in the Murano furnace of the Gallery, they are all signed by the artist and come with a certificate of authenticity.

What To Buy: A fantastic Murano glass vase, I think this would make a great heirloom piece, one that could be passed down from generazione to generazione. It's almost prettier than the flowers it holds, perfect for long-stemmed roses.

What To Pay: A glass vase is expensive, all items are completely hand made, price begins at US 200

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Theme: Art
Phone: +39 041 2413986
Address: S. Marco, 832-833/A
Directions: Vaporetto stop: San Marco
Website: http://www.zanettigallery.com/index.php
Other Contact: info@zanettimurano.com

Name of Shop: MondoNovo Maschere

It would be foolish to return from Venice without a carnival mask in your luggage, which are as ubiquitous in Venice as matryoshki are in Russia.
This unique store - Mondo Novo - specializes in papier-mâché and custom-designed creations, it is at the same time one of the oldest and one of the most contemporary of Venice’s mask workshops.

The owner, Lovato Guerrino designed the ceiling decorations for the new La Fenice opera house; he has worked also on the inner decorations of The Venetian Las Vegas Hotel Casino. and last but not least, in a contract with Boris Yeltsin, he has realized the papier-mache decoration of the great Romanoff style cupolas in the Kremlin-Moscow.
His masks have appeared in several movies, Stanley Kubrick bought the masks for his movie "Eyes Wide Shut" in this store.

What To Buy: Venice's best traditional Carnival masks in vivid solid colors. Made of traditional papier mache with black ribbon ties. Perfect for carnival and masquerade parties! One size fits most adults.

What To Pay: The cheaper masks are in the near of U$20 to U$30

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Theme: Local Craft
Address: Ponte di Pugni, Dorsoduro 3063
Directions: on the Rio Terà Canal, off Campo Santa Margherita
Website: http://www.mondonovomaschere.it/

Name of Shop: Lace shops in Venice

The island of Burano is famous for its lace, but these days the problem is that there are so few women left on Burano willing to spend the time to make these delicate artworks and much of what you find there and elsewhere in Venice is imported and produced by machine in Hong Kong. There are some notable exceptions fortunately. The lace and linens made by Jesurum or Mazzaron are not just works of art, they also are machine washable. But fine machine embroidery is also a complex craft, not to be underrated.

Jesurum warehouse and workshop
Address Fondamenta della Sensa, Cannaregio 3219, on the same canal as the Bridge of Sighs. Outlets at Piazza San Marco 60-61 and Merceria del Capitello 4857, San Marco

Maria Mazzaron
Celebrities and heads of state have come to the workshop of the Mazzaron sisters, each design is named after the person who first bought it.
Fondamenta dell’Osmarìn, Castello 4970

What To Buy: Authentic Burano Lace
If you want to buy proper, hand-made lace, insist on a label of authenticity, and expect to pay a high price.

What To Pay: The cost of a rectangular tablecloth can range from $400, it takes the needlewoman more than three years to make a tablecloth for 12. There are also less expensive items, such as silk chiffon squares with an embroidered spray of flowers in one corner for $40-50 each.
At Jesurum there is a little gift department for shoppers on a smaller budget. It carries little lace collars for $33 or guest towels with your choice of initials for $20 each and little lavender bags with a dolphin embroidered on them for $10.

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Theme: Local Craft