Velluto di Venezia / Velluto Operato
A silk velvet woven on a hand drawloom in which pile is created by supplementary warp threads lifted over fine steel rods (verghe) and cut, with voided or brocaded areas producing complex figured patterns of extraordinary optical depth.
Risk level: Critically Endangered · National ICH list Italy; no UNESCO listing
A contemporary Italian studio practice exemplified by Rome-based artist Sandra Di Giacinto: recycled corrugated cardboard is cut, shaped, layered and pleated into lightweight wearable forms, then finished with metallic pigment.
The cutting and fitting of semi-precious and ornamental hardstones — lapis lazuli, jasper, chalcedony, agate, malachite, serpentine — into pictorial and decorative compositions on a black stone ground, producing images of extraordinary…
A tradition of tin-glazed earthenware from Deruta (Umbria) characterized by its distinctive lustrous metallic finish — achieved through a third firing in a reduction atmosphere — as well as richly colored Renaissance-derived patterns…
The production of extremely thin gold leaf through successive cycles of hammering gold alloy between layers of ox intestine membrane (goldbeater's skin), achieving leaf thicknesses of 0.1-0.2 microns — thin enough to be translucent and to…
The tin-glazed earthenware tradition from Faenza (Emilia-Romagna) — the city whose name gave faience to the world — characterized by its white tin glaze ground and Renaissance polychrome decoration, the berrettino (gray-blue ground)…
A composite flooring technique in which marble chip aggregates are embedded in a lime or cement matrix, ground flat with successive abrasives, and polished to a mirror finish — creating seamless patterned floors of extraordinary durability…
Kapa is the traditional Native Hawaiian barkcloth, made almost entirely from the inner bark of the wauke (paper mulberry) tree through a labor-intensive process of stripping, soaking, fermenting, and repeated beating that transforms bast…
Duşek (Дүшек — mattress/felt pad) is the Turkmen felt tradition — producing the thick felt mattresses and floor pads used in the Turkmen yurt and household.
Handloom weaving of tussar (tasar) wild silk in Bhagalpur, Bihar.
The silk weaving tradition of Zürich — historically one of Europe's most significant silk textile centers from the 16th century, when Huguenot and Italian refugees brought silk-weaving knowledge to the city; at its peak the Zürich silk…
Large devotional paintings on cotton cloth made in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, to hang behind the image of Shrinathji (Krishna as a child) in temples of the Pushtimarg sect.
The Yomut carpet (Йомут халы) is the second major Turkmen tribal carpet tradition — produced by the Yomut tribe of the Caspian coast and Balkan Province, distinguished from Tekke by its specific kepse gul (diamond-shaped medallion)…