Ceramic, Leather and Pewter Shopping in Nove, Italy, April 24-27, 2014

Nove, Italy Shopping Trip 

Located in the Province of Vicenza, Nove is in the North Eastern Region of Italy along the Brenta River. (an 8 hour driving trip from Weisbaden).  The tiny industrial looking town and its surrounding areas, is renown worldwide for its ceramics and pottery so if you are looking for beautiful scenery, you will get some but not alot.  However, with its more than 100 ceramic shops you are sure to find something that you will want to bring home.  There are also several vineyards, and other interesting places to explore.


Our Trip started on Thursday night about 6:45 pm. With stopping in Stuttgart to catch our big bus and a couple of rest and drivers stops along the way, we landed in Nove, Italy about 5:45 on Friday Morning.  We ate breakfast at the hotel we were staying at and then it was off to find the treasures we came searching for.



I purchased two of these mugs @ Larry's

Our first stop on Friday was at a shop called Ceramiche Larry S.K. G. and was located about 30 minutes from our hotel.  The shop has been around for awhile but did not disappoint. We were able to explore the beautiful works and purchase what we wanted to take home with us.    

A sample of the ceramics found at Ceramiche Larry's

 

 



Our next stop was to a shop called Ceramiche Edelwiess snc and is a new stop for the USO. Inside, we were greeted by the very friendly staff and oodles of ceramics done in all kinds of colors and styles. The wares are very pretty and pristine. 



My Ceramiche Edelwiess Purchase

 



Loved the Variety and Colors of this shop.

 



 

Lenox stuff from la Ceramica. Pretty Cool. Huh!



 

Next, we were off to a very large shop called la Ceramica VBC.
This shop is famous for supplying such companies as Tiffany, Lenox and
Williams Sanoma. It was fun to see all the things they had. My specific want for this shop was to purchase some Lenox pieces.
I was not disappointed and came away with dinner plates and coffee mugs.
Loved the colors and think they will be great when we have guests.
See if you agree.


All through our shopping all morning, we had heard about a famous Italian Ceramic Piece called a "Chicken Pitcher". Seems that its origins dates back to the Renaissance Period of the Republic of Florence. Legend holds that chickens warned Giuliano, brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent, of an attempt to attack and kill him. Seems that Giuliano was so grateful that the chickens warned him, he asked that there be chicken wine pitchers constructed and gave them to fellow citizens for good luck.  I purchased my "Chicken Pitcher at a shop called Nove Ceramiche and here it is.



We are now protected from attack.

After the long morning, it was time for lunch and a bit of relaxation before we hit our final stop of the day. We were treated to guess what, You got it, Pizza and Pasta, beer and wine. We all enjoyed the meals we received and were thankful to get off our feet for a bit.

Last place of the day was called Roberto Rossi – Casa del Peltro - House of Pewter, Brass and Copper. It is a place that has all kinds of interesting and very expensive, pewter, copper and brass pieces. Some of the wares here included letter openers and swords with old Italian Army Ensignee, copper and pewter serving pieces and coffee sets, music boxes made of copper and pewter and many other items.
 


Store front Window
 

I purchased a shot glass here and several small turtles made of pewter to add to my turtle collection:




Pewter Shot Glass and Turtles

So we have come to the close of a very busy day of shopping so back on the bus we went to our hotel and some much needed down time.

Saturday, we began our day with a 5:15 wake up call for Breakfast @ 6:00. Yay! We then checked out of our hotel and proceeded to our first stop of the day.

It was a porcelain shop called Napoleon. I think this was my favorite shop of all because everything was so beautiful and we even got to see how some of the things were made.  That was a lot of fun.

Flower Making Demonstration. This woman produces about
70 pieces an hour! Incredible




My purchase here is probably one of my favorite pieces and I think you will see why.  



I probably could have purchased all the Roses they had but this one seemed particularly nice to me.

 

Yes, that is a pink purse and I love it!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





It was not a trip that was totally ceramics and porcelain. We were also treated to leather and wine.  Here comes the leather.
Our leather stop was a place called Nicoli Leather. It was a retail shop with many different styles of handbags and wallets. They even offered the European "Man Purse" which is pretty much as shoulder handbag with big pockets. While I liked the goods in this store, I thought we were going to be visiting a warehouse of sorts rather than a retail store. Fun all the same.






Our Wine Tour was to a winery called Dal Bello. They have been in operation for quite awhile and what was interesting, this was the most "modern" shop of them all. While they had wood barrels for the red and red blend wines, they processed their whites in aluminum barrels and did it more mechanically than traditionally. I thought it was kind of funny since the rest of the city seems to be older and does things the "old fashioned" way.  I purchased 3 bottles of Pinot Grigio and 3 bottles of a Cabernet, Merlot blend. The wines are wundebar and we love the fact that we can add them to our collection.

For my Trademark friends, I also discovered that this winery has a mark in the EU and USA.  I am not sure about any other countries but they display their certificates on the wall of the shop so naturally, I had to take a picture. I hope to be able to go and search the background on them. It would be interesting to see if any familiar names pop up. 


Trademark Certificates in the EU and U.S.
for the Mark DAL BELLO


 

We also visited a place called Elios. It was a ceramic shop that housed two floors of works. Beautiful hand painting and decorating and just a nice feel.

My Beautiful Vase from Elios. It is the focal point
of my entry way

Our last stop of the day was to a Ceramic Museum not far from where the shops were. Want to know of the history of Italian Ceramics, visit this museum called Nove Museo Civico Della Ceramica. It was incredible to see all the works they had displayed. Some dated back to the 1800's and were organized in a way that you could see the oldest to the newest.

I was blown away by the pieces they had and couldn't get over the detail for the times that were being shown. Must have taken the artist a very long time to complete each piece.  Below is an example of what I mean.

Can you believe this piece was crafted in the 1800's?
Gorgeous don't you think?

So, that concludes my wonderful adventure in Nove, Italy. Fun times but very exhausting.  Upon our return home, I slept most of the next day. So worth it though.

Remember this part of Italy when you are traveling about Europe, especially if you are into pottery and porcelain. You wont be disappointed. Until next time.