We were in Italy in 2010 (Thanks, Fodorites for all your help with that trip! Your advice was spot-on!) while in Florence, I found these beautiful tiles (they almost looked like frescoes, but I can't be sure what they were made of, or how they were decorated).

Each one had an image and a Latin word representing a profession (doctor, layer, teacher, etc.) They looked like antiques (though I don't think they actually were) and I just fell in love with them! I wanted to get one for my husband and myself but at the time, we couldn't squeeze them into our budget (they were about 45-50 Euro each).

In May, we'll be back in Florence for a DAY while on a Mediterranean cruise and I'm begging my wise Fodorite friends: can ANYONE tell me where/how I might be able to find these? I'm kicking myself for not buying them the last time, and now I don't even know where to begin looking for them. It would be amazing to bring them home this time around!

Thanks in advance for your help!

I think you have not posted some crucial info to make sense out of your posting.

- You were in Florence in 2010 yourself and you saw the tiles but did not buy them.

- You will be again in Florence in 2012 and want to buy similar tiles, and you are asking others where to find them.

Ok, so why is going back to where you found them in 2010 not an option?

Mt best guess is that the OP doesn't remember exactly where the tiles were on display. This has happened to me several times when I've been on overload after seeing so many interesting things. I hope you are able to locate the tiles 2Aquilas. Florence is a lovely place.

General advice - List the areas you visited in 2010. Starting with the most likely, the piazza around the duomo, stroll around until a shop strikes you as familiar, then delve.

I've seen these in Florence, but not sure exactly where. You might want to take a look at this small shop just behind the San Lorenzo street market vendors: Florentia Arte in Ceramica, at Via dell' Ariento 81/r. If you turn onto Via dell' Arento from Via Nazionale, it'll be on your right, about half a block or so up the street. It's a shop, not a stall. They have a lot of interesting things in there at really good prices.

stand on the steps of the cathedral, look to about 10 o'clock, to the left of the Baptistery. Ther is a small building with Venetian-looking arches, then a range of three or four shop fronts before this becomes a street leading toward the Palazzo Vecchio. Look in the windows of these shops as well as the first few shops on the Piazza just to the left of the new street. It would be easier for me with a picture and easier for you if I had a map, but that is guess about where I recently saw something similar.

Is this what you are looking for?

http://derutaitaly.com/jobs-professions

catcrazyaf has it exactly right- I know I saw them in Florence, but I can't remember where.

Zeppole, thanks for the link, but no, that's not it. These were simpler and had Latin writing on them.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I'm taking notes!

There is a very well established ceramic shop near the Bargello museum which my wife believes has what you are looking for--although your style search has become very specific. It is on Via del Proconsolo near where Via Ghibellina "t's" into it. The shop is below ground and you step down into it. Sorry, we don't have the name.

As a side note, we have seen variations of these tiles from the Amalfi coast to Orvieto to Deruta.
Good luck! Paul

Thanks Paul, that's very encouraging! This is turning into a fun sort of scavenger hunt!

Were they natural? Not painted/glazed?

The tiles with professions on them are all over Italy. I've seen them lots of places and decorated in lots of different ways.

If you are in Orvieto during your trip, there is a shop with the natural tiles (handmade in the shop, but natural clay). It's near Piazza Ranieri. I don't think it's really what your are looking for though.

Anything like this, which hangs in the waiting room at my dentist here on Ischia?

http://www.pbase.com/isolaverde/image/140971450

No idea where it came from, but I can ask!

Peter

KYBOURBON- They looked like old frescoes or Middle Age paintings- faded, antique-looking. They weren't shiny- I THINK they were natural...

Peter- that's a little closer, but still a little more "cartoon-y" than what I saw.

Thanks for joining in the search, everyone!

Any handpainted tile is glazed; some glazes are shinier than others.

Your best bet is to go to some of the ceramics shops people have suggested. Tiles sold in Florence are probably from Montelupo Fiorentino, but as people have said, such tiles are made in all ceramics centers.