MONTENARS, ITALY – Wall Ornament

Posted on May 28, 2017 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Montenars , Italy

ITEM: Wall Ornament

NOTES: A magnificent souvenir celebrating the town of Montenars in Italy’s northern Alpine region (in the Province of Udine in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia). The souvenir depicts a climbing pick and rope (naturally enough for the area) with a excellent inlay containing a picture of the town, assorted flora and a miniature traditional Alpino hat common to the area. Wonderfully evocative and from a time when souvenirs had a little thought.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s

MADE FROM: wood , steel , cloth

MADE IN: Italy probably

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 43cm long x 18cm wide x 4cm deep

TUSCANY, ITALY – Cap

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Tuscany , Italy

ITEM: Cap

NOTES: Toscana, Italia, more commonly known to us as Tuscany, Italy. The major towns in the region are written around the cap edge, Lucca, Firenze (Florence), Siena, Pisa.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 200s

MADE FROM: cotton

MADE IN: China

MANUFACTURER: Polifemoeye

DIMENSIONS: adult adjustable size.

VENICE, ITALY – Wall Plate

Posted on February 7, 2016 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Venice , Italy

ITEM: Display Plate

NOTES: A well detailed plate depicting Venice’s St Mark’s Square surrounded by pictures of all the major historical towns of Italy. This is beautifully detailed. Perhaps the extra detail is a result of it being fashioned and made in Italy?

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s

MADE FROM: Porcelain

MADE IN: Italy

MANUFACTURER: Fontebasso

DIMENSIONS: 19cm diameter

SIENA, ITALY – Wall Plate

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Siena , Italy

ITEM: Wall Plate

NOTES: This wall plate depicts the old cathedral in the heart of Siena, Tuscany. The plate is nicely detailed and has a border in gold, as it probably should, given that Siena has been declared by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.

I loved the Stewart Granger film “Swordsman of Siena” (1962) as a kid … I have no idea if it was filmed there.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: ceramic material

MADE IN: unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 19.5cm diameter

PISA, ITALY – Ornament

Posted on December 28, 2014 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Pisa , Italy

ITEM: Ornament

NOTES: The leaning tower of Pisa is the most well known of the buildings in the piazza dei miracoli in Pisa but there are four great religious edifices: the Duomo (cathedral), the Campanile (the cathedral’s free standing bell tower), the Baptistry and the Camposanto.

Here they are captured in something 7cm long.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1980s

MADE FROM: hard plastic resin

MADE IN: unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 6cm high , 7cm long

ARTA TERME, ITALY – Wall Ornament

Posted on August 31, 2014 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Arta Terme , Italy

ITEM: Wall Ornament

NOTES: A mass produced wooden artifact – insert town name at bottom.

Arta Terme is a province in far north western Italy which explains the slightly alpine look in the trinket. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arta_Terme

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: wood

MADE IN: unknown

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 8cm across , 18cm high

MILAN, ITALY – Nic Nac Dish

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Milan, Italy

ITEM: Nic Nac Dish

NOTES: The Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) in all its glory. The plate really doesn’t do the Gothic cathedral justice. It took nearly six centuries to complete … the church not the plate.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): unknown, 1970s probably.

MADE FROM: plastic

MADE IN: Italy

MANUFACTURER: Muzio, Milano

DIMENSIONS: 15cm wide , 10.5cm long

TURIN, ITALY – Thermometer

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: The Superga Basilica, Turin , Italy

ITEM: Thermometer

NOTES: I’m not sure what the guitar shape has to do with a basilica so I assume it’s a tribute to the Torino guitar from Turin (Torino being the Italian for Turin). This is a well detailed and elegant trinket and what you would expect from the less rustic Italian north.

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1960s

MADE FROM: ceramic material , chain

MADE IN: Italy

MANUFACTURER: unknown

DIMENSIONS: 7cm across , 21cm high

Remember to click on the photos for detailed large images.

VENICE, ITALY – Wall Ornament

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Frankie

PLACE REPRESENTED: Venice, Italy.

ITEM: Wall Ornament.

NOTES: Venice in wood?

Wooden folk art is something common throughout Europe but the idea of Venice on wood is interesting given that coastal Croatians swear that the Venetian Republic was built on Croatian lumber. The fact that there is very little top soil left along some parts of the Croatian coast, due to erosion from tree felling, may indicate there is some truth in that belief.

Putting aside any historical exploitation argument this is a type of tourist trinket I love: it’s hand made, though mass produced, with mixed materials, ie: a postcard stuck to wood and painted to create a vivid Venetian memory of the Piazza San Marco (St. Marks Square).

YEAR (APPROXIMATE): 1970s

MADE FROM: wood, paper, paint.

MADE IN: Unknown, Italy probably.

MANUFACTURER: unknown.

DIMENSIONS: 22cm high, 11cm wide

TRAVEL TRINKETS

Tourist souvenirs from around the world

Category Archives: Italy

MONTENARS, ITALY – Wall Ornament

TUSCANY, ITALY – Cap

VENICE, ITALY – Wall Plate

SIENA, ITALY – Wall Plate

PISA, ITALY – Ornament

ARTA TERME, ITALY – Wall Ornament

MILAN, ITALY – Nic Nac Dish

TURIN, ITALY – Thermometer

VENICE, ITALY – Wall Ornament