A Well-Woven Tradition

A Well-Woven Tradition

The craft of weaving brocades, damasks, and velvets is still very much alive in Venice, with top manufacturers catering to royal courts, theaters, and the movie industry. At the time of the tourist boom in the 1980s, the descendants of underpaid embroiderers opened up fine lace and handicraft boutiques. Prices range from EUR 120 per meter for old-style fabrics woven on power looms to EUR 1,500 per meter for handmade silk velvets of unparalleled softness and beauty.

On the lower end of the price range are striking lampases, brocades, and damasks, which come in different floral and striped patterns as well as solid colors. Sometimes the fabrics are hand dyed after they've been woven to obtain mellow watercolor effects. It's always worth inquiring about sales for discontinued designs -- you might want to give a Venetian look to your favorite reading chair.

Although most of the lace sold in town is machine made in China or Taiwan, you can still find something that more closely resembles the real thing in the best shops. Surprisingly, period lace (made between 1900 and 1940) is easier to find and less expensive than contemporary lace, even though the former is a finer product, made ad ago (with the needle), while the latter is made with thicker threads or a fusello (with the bobbin).

At the Museo del Merletto (Lace-Making Museum) in Burano you get an idea of how lace once looked. Despite the reopening of the Scuola del Merletto (Lace-Making School), lace makers no longer sell their creations in shops, but older ones might accept jobs on commission. The best way to contact them is to ask around in Burano (they object to having their names advertised), but consider that a 10-inch doily takes about 400 hours to make, and the price will show it.