In Mugello 2022 PDF

Discovering
Artisans and Crafts
Artisan trades that are passed down from generation to generation,
also famous internationally
There are many different local traditional crafts
alive in Mugello that continue to be carried down
from generation to generation. Scarperia has been
famous for cutlery for over five-hundred years: in
1538 the “Statute of Cutlers” was drawn up and is
still renowned worldwide. In 1906, in Scarperia alone
there were still 46 artisan shops. Today a variety of
knives continue to be made all by hand; table, hunting
and butcher’s knives, including the famous coltello
d’amore (lover’s knife) of the Coltellerie Conaz, that
has produced knives for generations. Coltellerie Berti,
one of the oldest artisans, is famous for its ox horn
pocket knife created by David Berti in 1895, now Tradizioni
Associate together with Conaz and Consigli
knife makers. Other artisan knife shops in Scarperia
are: Coltellerie Giglio, Coltellerie Saladini, Coltelleria
Fontani, I Coltelli dell’Artigiano. In Upper Mugello,
thanks to the great abundance of pietra serena, artisan
masons continue to work the local sandstone, a centuries
old tradition. Sandstone is an integral part of the
environment used to pave streets and squares, build
staircases and embellish building exteriors in many
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villages around Palazzuolo, Firenzuola and Marradi
(Scheggianico, Tirli, Piancaldoli, Coniale) and San
Godenzo. Nowadays it is generally used in interiors
often combined beautifully with terracotta, tiles, glass,
crystal or wrought iron, or for exterior fittings such as
fountains, benches or columns. Many workshops can
be found throughout Upper Mugello where masons
work sandstone. Wrought iron is still widely used in
interior decorations: mainly light fixtures, chairs and
tables produced by numerous artisans in Firenzuola,
Marradi, Scarperia, San Godenzo, Sant’Agata and
Londa. Another local tradition is embroidery. In the
past, peddlers called “barulli,” travelled by mule with
cloths and fabrics leaving them with peasant wives,
skilled seamstresses and embroiderers who transformed
them into beautiful tablecloths, sheets and towels
for gentlewomen’s trousseaux, receiving in payment
remnants of cloth that they embroidered for their own
daughters’ dowries. Both Cavallina and Galliano were
renowned for their laceworks. For the past forty years
the embroidery school in Borgo San Lorenzo also organizes
classes (for info 055 8458358 or 320 0769071
Sig.ra Maria Margheri). Borgo San Lorenzo is home
to the internationally famous Manifattura Chini ceramics
where Vieri, Cosimo and Mattia, descendants
of the distinguished Galileo Chini, famous artist of
the Italian Art Nouveau movement, still use the particular
iridescent colors and their family’s secret firing
methods for producing unique tiles and a range
of objects for the home. All works of art, they can be
found at their showroom in Via Faentina in Borgo San
Lorenzo. Even the art of basket making has antique
origins. Usually the baskets were made by peasants
out of wicker or reeds and used in the fields or sold at
market. Baskets for fruit, vegetables or bread can still
be found today, especially at the local fairs, in all shapes
and sizes. In Mugello it is still possible to find traditional
Tuscan chairs made with a wooden frame and
a straw seat. The figure of the female flask-coverer
is characteristic of Valdisieve where women would
cover glass flasks with straw before being filled with
good Chianti Rufina wine. Leather was worked in
Mugello since the time of the Medici’s when Barberino
was famous for shoe making. Today there
are many small artisans throughout Mugello and
Valdisieve that create bags and accessories as well
as producing for famous fashion designers.