This is the video we made to introduce ourselves, to present our great and ambitious project that concerns all Florentine artisans.
We can change, we can change, the Signum Fiorenza Association was born from these simple considerations, bringing the beauty of Florence and its artisans under the eyes of all.
Each of us is called to make a small contribution to bring beauty back to the city!
Sounds simple right? Maybe it is if we all cooperate for the Rebirth!

It was the 1960s when Giuliano decided to enter the workshop of Carlo Cecchi as an apprentice, a life has passed since then, made up of dedication, sacrifice, and many satisfactions for the numerous awards received over the years.

This is our video for them, a kind of thanks for the wonders that every day they patiently continue to create with their hands.

Giuliano, Maria and Gianni, 3 people who welcomed us into their shop and gave us the opportunity to show how Florentine excellences are born.

Paper… It’s easy to say Paper!

In Florence there is an ancient tradition of paper processing, do you know why?
The first to use this particular technique were the Chinese and the Japanese.
The custom was to cover the boxes of goods from oriental markets with decorated papers. When they arrived on western markets, they aroused the attention of many artisans.

In Florence, in a few decades, a real excellent processing of paper developed, renaming them marble papers.
We will present you how a marble paper is born.

“My name is Francesca and I work at my company, Officina Del Marmo, born in the footsteps of CFC marmi, in which I have worked as a freelancer for years. The Marble Workshop is a family business, in which my husband and I work, who already has about twenty years of experience in the previous CFC.

We deal with mosaics and scagliola and the processing of marble and semi-precious stones in its entirety of use.

This means that we range in many sectors, from a purely artistic field that is expressed in the techniques of mosaic and “scagliola”, to a building and furnishing field, to the restoration of stone works, up to the production of artifacts on the project of artists and craftsmen.

Leather… It’s easy to say Leather!

Today we introduce you ALBERTO COZZI FIRENZE
The address has remained unchanged since 1908, in via del Parione 33 / R.
The founder Alberto bound books in this corner of Florence near the very central Via de ‘Tornabuoni.
Sons and grandchildren have succeeded in this ancient art, passing on the passion from generation to generation and expanding the skills of the company.
Today, in addition to the bookbinding activity, ancient books are bound and restored. Hand-decorated paper objects are produced according to ancient techniques, such as the now rare processing of marbled paper.

Here you will find only handmade and only Italian products.

The Traversari Mosaici company has specialized in the production of artistic mosaics and micromosaic costume jewelery since the end of the 19th century, and proudly continues a long family artisan tradition.

Over the years they have always sought the quality of mosaics, both for an increasingly careful research of materials, and for what concerns the technique used.

Their extensive production also includes costume jewelery in micromosaic of spun enamel glass on gilded brass or silver (earrings, rings, brooches, bracelets, pendants, pillboxes, frames and crosses) and costume jewelery in mosaic made of semiprecious stones (pendants, and earrings).

Jewels… Easy to say!

It is the turn of Paolo Penko, Florentine master goldsmith.
Paolo Penko, Master Goldsmith, designer and sculptor, Florentine by birth, has assimilated from his city all the fascination of Renaissance art of which he is a profound connoisseur, and which has inspired many of his works.

His city, Florence, is the primary source of inspiration for his jewels and creations which resemble the volutes, spirals, friezes, small geometries and inlays designed by the master craftsmen of Florentine architecture.

Sbigoli terracotta is an ancient artisan workshop, founded in 1857 by the Sbigoli family and carried on by the Adami family, specialized in the production of ceramic tableware and furnishings.

The Sbigoli family business began in 1857 in the Sant’Ambrogio district where they produced and sold building materials such as bricks, stoves and terracotta vases.

Like any self-respecting family business, the passion and art for ceramics could only be genetically transmitted to his daughters Chiara and Lorenza.

The Sbigoli Terrecotte workshop is known not only for the experience and quality of its products, but also for the variety of its large and ever-current production.

Artistic ceramics entirely made and decorated by hand, ranging from complete tableware, to fire pottery, to furnishing items such as wall plates, lamps, flowerpots, plaques, panels and tiles.

The excellence in the world!

In 1906 Giuseppe Lisio founded his first factory in Florence. Since then, the Lisio Foundation has continued the production of fine velvets and silk brocades, always hand-woven on the same ancient Jacquard looms, with the same single purpose: to keep the art of weaving fine fabrics alive.

The Foundation, in addition to testifying and continuing an ancient art, today represents a point of reference for fabric scholars, for companies and designers intent on refining their skills, but it is also a center that in 46 years of activity has been able to build a network of specialized knowledge and activated important exchanges with other institutions and with internationally renowned stylists.

MARIONETTA – The term marionette, more often used in the plural puppets, represents the set of puppets intended for the show, has a completely uncertain etymology.
Generally it is agreed that the word derives from the diminutive of the name of Maria.

In French: Marion, Mariette. Mariole, name given to small figures of the Virgin Mary; Mariolettes, to ancient statuettes of women; Marotte, at the wooden head surmounting the jesters’ scepter.

In Italy the word marionette is connected to a Venetian origin, namely to the feast of the “Marie” (10th century), in which twelve richly dressed girls were led in procession through the city, later replaced by twelve large “wooden Maries”.de tola), dette Marionewhich the toy makers then reproduced in tiny proportions, also to amuse the children.

The drawing on paper is made by the artist and cut into small patterns that will be attached to the variegated shades of the stones following the visual instinct, the innate gift of the artist and his perfect knowledge of the materials.
The shape of the pattern will be cut by hand with a chestnut, cherry or hazelnut wood bow and an iron wire that flows with abrasive powder and water, creating a very precise and inclined cut to form the essential interstices to accommodate the glue, also it is made by artisans with beeswax and pine tree resin.
The different stones are previously glued onto a slate surface which acts as a support during the cutting and filing phase.

The Mannina artisanal workshop was founded in theheart of the historic centre of Florence in 1953.

Master Calogero Mannina founded his business in acraftsman’s workshop in Via de’ Barbadori, between Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti, where he designedand fashioned his shoes, unique models originating from the passion of fine, handcrafted work.

Despite the passing years, the company has maintained its traditional style and this is why it is instantly recognizable: originality and quality, to meet the spectrum of needs and desires expressed by its customers.

Calogero Mannina handed down his passion and his skill to his son, Antonio, who has carried on the family business, lending a touch of elegance and distinctiveness with his work in the retail shop in Via Guicciardini in Florence.

Il Bronzetto was born in 1963, in the heart of the Oltrarno area of ​​Florence, a historic district of artisan shops, specialized in the creation of furniture and lighting in brass and bronze.
Our unique and high quality products are molded with creativity and expertise by an entire generation of bronze artisans: from the founder Antonio Calcinai, to his sons, Simone and Pierfrancesco, to whom he handed down the knowledge of the different materials and the their use.

Today it is a company that produces products appreciated all over the world, it is a compendium of old knowledge and manual skills, new contents and high-tech processes.

Pitti Mosaici was born in Piazza Pitti, Florence, in 1982 and is based on the experience of four generations of artistic craftsmanship.

In 1890, grandfather Emilio left the charming central Italian town of Venafro (south of Rome), for Paris, to study at the Academie des Beaux Arts as a marble sculptor. His brother was a master wood craftsman for the Vatican Sacristy.

Another brother was a priest-painter whose work can still be admired today in the Sala Segreta of the Vatican Museums.