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 Terrà 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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Jewellery
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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