Antique Italian Walking Sticks of Naples and Florence
Identify antique Italian walking sticks of Naples and Florence by coral handles, gold collars, pietra dura shafts, micromosaic grips and later remounts.
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Decorative arts is the home for Italian objects that are not already a ceramic, a textile or a piece of case furniture, but that still come from a specialist workshop. Florentine pietra dura, scagliola from Carpi and Tuscany, painted fans, and small cabinet panels cut in hardstone all ask for a reading of the material. Pietra dura is stone, piece against piece, with a drawing that should survive a close look at the joints. Scagliola is a plaster composition polished to imitate marble, and the cracks and the ground give it away. A fan is a leaf and a monture that need to be the same date. The articles here concentrate on how the surface was made and on the later revival that copied it with coarser joints, printed patterns or a mount that does not match.
10 articles
Identify antique Italian walking sticks of Naples and Florence by coral handles, gold collars, pietra dura shafts, micromosaic grips and later remounts.
How to identify Italian antique fans by painted leaf, ivory sticks and Grand Tour views from Rome and Naples, including later remounted copies.
Authentic Volterra alabaster is gypsum from Tuscan nodular beds. Learn how workshop pieces differ from later tourist copies and calcite lookalikes.
Italian scagliola from Carpi and Tuscany, 1600–1800: gypsum inlay technique, workshop practice, and how collectors distinguish it from pietra dura.
A practical 48-hour Venice antiques map: Campo San Maurizio fair, Dorsoduro dealers, and how to buy Murano glass without tourist traps.
A practical 48-hour map of Rome antiques: Via dei Coronari dealers, Mercato delle Stampe, Piazza Quiriti, Ponte Milvio and how to use Porta Portese without wasting the morning.
A practical 48-hour map of Milan antiques for visitors: Brera dealers, Navigli canal markets, Fiera di Sinigaglia, Mercatone dell'Antiquariato, and what to ask before you buy.
A practical 48-hour map of Florence antiques for visitors: Via Maggio dealers, Oltrarno workshops, Santo Spirito market, Mercato delle Pulci, and what to ask before you buy.
34th BIAF at Palazzo Corsini, 26 Sept–4 Oct 2026: hours, tickets, Botticelli’s first edition, vetting, Michelangelo loan and linked museum events for collectors.
Identify Florentine pietra dura: Medici commesso technique, typical stones, Grand Tour plaques, and how hardstone inlay differs from scagliola copies.