Vintage Florentine gilt collectibles are amongst my absolute favorite things to covet and purchase in spades.  I am entirely enamored and almost fetishize these little handpainted trinkets. They were, and have been, created in Florence for tourists to purchase from the 1920s until the current day, but the collectible variety were generally created from the 1920s to the 1960s.  The older variety are highly esteemed primarily because of their aged patina.  This gives the pieces the quality of a much older antique when in fact it is not.  Many of these pieces are also highly affordable.

There are many sites which sell these beauties including Ruby Lane, Second Shout Out, Etsy, 1st Dibs, eBay, and One Kings Lane to name a few.  You can also find them often at antique stores, but typically at a much higher markup.

When decorating the home with these admired tokens, don’t group them together, but rather spread them throughout the home. I like having several Florentine boxes in one area such as the living room, and framed prints in another (like the bathroom).  This keeps these prized commodities looking refined and not kitsch in the slightest.

“In Italy, there are so many significant architectural structures in history such as the Pantheon in Rome, or the Duomo.”

 

Courtesy of Ruby Lane,  Second Shout Out, Etsy, eBay, 1st Dibs, Laurel Leaf Farm, One Kings Lane