Antiques, modern antiques and handicraft markets

Learn a trade for a rainy day.

Our grandmothers used to say this, and it is a motto that is still valid today. The entire Rimini Riviera is full of artists, craftsmen, lovers of the arts and ''know-how''. It is therefore not uncommon to find historic workshops where potters, sculptors, engravers and glass workers still work.

 

TERRACOTTAS AND CERAMICS

The village of Santa Maria del Piano, a hamlet of Montescudo-Monte Colombo, has been the site of numerous famous terracotta factories and workshops since the eighteenth century.
And it is precisely here that we can find the last descendant of these ancient craftsmen, Geo Casadei, who continues the craft he learned from his ancestors.
His workshop, like all those that date back to ancient times, has a unique charm. The tools have always been the same, evidence of the past and the art that has been handed down from generation to generation.
There is still the ancient wood-burning kiln, still functioning, for cooking terracotta. A very rare, unique bit of history, which still allows us to demonstrate the manufacturing processes dating back to ancient times:
from the ''loading'' of the kiln with raw worked clays, to its lighting and feeding to reach a temperature of 350-500 degrees, to proceed to the firing of the clay and to obtaining the finished product.
In Saludecio, in the heart of the Valconca, we find the Ceramiche Artistiche del Portico del Vasaio. In this workshop they try to keep the tradition of the popular forms of Romagna alive.
The lathe is the main reference for the creation of vases, umbrella stands, plates, centerpieces. Over time, production has also focused on the manufacture of lighting fixtures, such as table lamps, ceramic chandeliers, wall sconces. Some shapes have the flavor of a new design, they are ceramic and metal tables, ceramic and glass or wood tables, fireplace frames, mirrors.
A prestigious space is devoted to the modeling and experimentation of sculptures in ceramic and third firing with gold and platinum. Ceramics courses are also held in the workshop where the lathe remains the main tool.
Also in Saludecio, in Roberto Dal Maso's workshop, it is possible to admire and learn the ancient art of Raku obtained with a special technique of second firing of the clay which is carried out in a gas kiln; the piece is extracted hot with special tongs, wearing protection against the high heat, and it is then placed in a metal container containing sawdust, leaves or paper.
The contact causes the ignition of a flame which produces a reduction of oxygen with the consequent formation of a particular lustre in the glazing and blackening of the uncolored parts of the bisque.

 

THE MOSAICS
In Mondaino, research and experimentation on some aesthetic and functional solutions for the mosaics in the field of contemporary architecture is mainly carried out in the Laboratorio Mosaico Mondaino. New materials and new uses offer original wall and floor applications.
Since 1986 this Workshop has distinguished itself for the creation of a great number of mosaics for interior and exterior furnishings thanks to the collaboration with architectural studios and several artists in the design field.

 

THE ARTISTIC GLASS
Vincenzo Provenzano lives among the panoramic hills of Gemmano; he is a master in the working of one of the most fascinating and in some ways most mysterious materials: glass. In his workshop you can admire unique and peculiar works and you can also learn about and become familiar with this ancient and yet very modern art.
In the numerous works, created by Vincenzo in so many years of activity in Italy and abroad, there is confirmation of how glass (in this case ''artistic'' glass) transforms and furnishes spaces whether applied to single or multiple doors, to mirrors, to furniture and wall units, to walls, to animated wooden or metal structures; they can be used to cover entire facades of: villas, hotels and commercial activities, on stairs, on tables and tops, as well as lamps, light effects, paintings, mosaics and indoor or outdoor sculptures.
The refined techniques of his work, all done by hand with the use of alloys and noble metals, with continuous welding, or mosaic-like with very small glass elements but for some works even larger in size, mean that his works are esteemed and well-received everywhere.