Arts and crafts work-shops
where traditional products are made with skills handed down from generation to generation
are still reasonably common around the province.
In Valtrompia there are many artisans who
practise the ancient art of metal engraving which has been performed there since 1500 on
armour and swords and which helped to make the Venetian army famous. Today, the craftsman
traces the design onto the metal parts of hunting rifles using a hammer and chisel
creating a work of art out of each item.
In Franciacorta the fine
wrought-iron gates to large houses testify to the diffusion of this traditional
art. Wrought-ironwork is still practised today but not perhaps all done by hand.
The
production of iron objects is also linked to Valcamonica, particularly to Bienno.
Originally established during the 17th century, some are still in operation,
but their products were dedicated to functionality rather than beauty-hoes, buckets,
shovels and other household and agricultural objects.
Montisola on Lake Iseo is still the centre for
net-making.
The skills of weaving threads of silk, linen, hemp and
cotton and then dyeing the results the colour of rust with chestnut skins were taught by
mother to daughter for centuries.
Marquetry and wood-working is typical of the mountain areas of the Brescian valley which
has produced an artistic heritage visible in the village churches. Woodworking is still
popular and can be seen in the production of everyday objects such as bowls, walking
sticks, clogs, chopping boards and ladles etc., especially in Valcamonica at Darfo
Boario Terme and Ponte di Legno where it is not difficult to find shops dedicated to
wooden articles.
Typical of Valcamonica are "pezzotti" of Monno, woven on 18th
century frames.
The local fishermen’s boat, the "naèc",
is still made by hand in the small yards of Monte Isola.
It is a long, tapered boat very functional for fishing and different to those in other
lake areas around Italy as it is based on a sea-going design.
The story goes that the creator of this boat was a carpenter who had been freed from
Venetian gaol where he had been imprisoned for stealing secret designs of Venetian boats.
He adapted the design of a gondola to fishing purposes and the "naèc"
was born.
Besides hand-working of pewter and copper at Bagolino, there are still crafts alive
relating to the "Bagolino Carnival". For example, the clogs
("sgalber") are engraved and the aprons ("gede") woven on a frame,
both by hand.
