I got the impression that it was a case of, “Lots of tourists; lots of outlets; not all that many actual artisans”. But to be fair, things seemed to be honestly, if discretely, labelled.
There ARE (or were, when I was there) at least a couple of workshops on Murano where you can go watch them actually making things. They charged an arm and a leg to do so, mind.
Burano (lace-making) was similar. In several of the shops there would be an elderly lady working away at a delicate piece of lace, surrounded by “finished pieces” for sale. Look closer at those, though, and you saw that the majority were machine-made imports (and, indeed, quite a few came from Nottingham, here in the UK).
Macushlalondra almost 7 years ago
So even in Italy everything’s made in China?
Liverlips McCracken Premium Member almost 7 years ago
If he’s reading a Made in China label, that is REALLY gonna sting.
Pet almost 7 years ago
That happened to us in Jamaica. The “hand mad local” carvings had made in India stickers on the bottom.Caveat Emptor.
fredd13 almost 7 years ago
I got the impression that it was a case of, “Lots of tourists; lots of outlets; not all that many actual artisans”. But to be fair, things seemed to be honestly, if discretely, labelled.
There ARE (or were, when I was there) at least a couple of workshops on Murano where you can go watch them actually making things. They charged an arm and a leg to do so, mind.
Burano (lace-making) was similar. In several of the shops there would be an elderly lady working away at a delicate piece of lace, surrounded by “finished pieces” for sale. Look closer at those, though, and you saw that the majority were machine-made imports (and, indeed, quite a few came from Nottingham, here in the UK).
Happy, happy, happy!!! Premium Member almost 7 years ago
I have a couple of Murano’s pieces. They live with my bunnies.