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Antico Setificio Fiorentino
Patrizia Pietrogrande & Sabine Pretsch
Antico Setificio Fiorentino is a bilingual (Italian and English) illustrated history of one of Europe's most remarkable survivals: the ancient Florentine silk workshop of that name, founded in 1786 and still weaving luxury silks on antique looms. Published in Florence by Le Lettere in 1999, the book takes the reader inside a living workshop where techniques and even machinery reach back centuries—the winding of thread, the warping, the hand-weaving, the checking of each design against the weaver's cartoon—capturing a craft tradition that industrialization elsewhere long ago swept away. Part company history, part homage to Florentine artisanship, it's generously photographed and pitched to lovers of textiles and fine craft. The workshop continues the “Art of Silk” that helped make Renaissance Florence rich, and the book conveys both the beauty of the fabrics and the patience of the hands that make them. For readers drawn to textiles, craftsmanship, or Florence itself, it's a lovely record.
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The book
Published in Florence by Le Lettere in 1999, Antico Setificio Fiorentino is a bilingual (Italian/English) illustrated volume on the historic silk workshop of the same name. Across some 157 pages it documents both the firm's history and its living practice—dyeing, warping, weaving, and the matching of cloth to the weaver's cartoon—through generous photography.
The subject
The Antico Setificio Fiorentino, founded in 1786, is a rare survival: a workshop still producing handwoven silks on historic looms, continuing the "Art of Silk" that was one of the foundations of Florentine prosperity from the Renaissance onward.
How to read it
As homage and record. The pleasure is in seeing an unbroken craft tradition up close—the antique machinery, the slow handwork, the fabrics themselves—rather than in narrative sweep.
For more context
Read alongside histories of the Florentine silk and wool guilds and the broader story of Italian luxury textiles.
Sources
- Type
- Book
- Author / Maker
- Patrizia Pietrogrande & Sabine Pretsch
- Publisher
- Le Lettere
- Place of publication
- Florence
- Year
- 1999
- Edition
- Ristampa 2003
- ISBN
- 887166485X
- Shelf
- Art
- Location
- Maine