Sunday, September 19, 2010

Vintage Italian Tea Towels








For years I have been using these wonderful tea towels at my mother-in-law’s house. The illustrations I think were done by an Italian illustrator called Milvia and the towels given as a promotional gift by a company selling household goods, (sorry…, but I can’t be more specific than that). Milvia I suspect is the illustrators name and not the name of the company who produced the towels. I also have no idea how old they are, I think they’ve been drying pots for quite some time. My “Milvia” searches on the web have so far come up with nothing.

Although these towels are a bit of a mystery I really love them, the colours and illustrations are great and the handwritten typeface is superb.

Venerdì… giardinaggio, translated means “Friday… gardening”, such a wonderful dress and hat with a gorgeous balcony in flower.
Lunedì… bucato, translated means “Monday… washing”, it’s a shame that this towel is in bad condition as the face is lovely.
Domenica… trattoria, translated means “Sunday… restaurant”, I just love the headscarf and shoes!

Obviously I have now re-valued them and have stopped using them to dry the dishes. I am also on the hunt for the other four days of the week!

For more heavenly tea towels to buy, catch up with this great site, to dry for.

4 comments:

  1. Zucchi near Milano is still in business, but no longer makes these towels. I have all 7 days, plus hours of the day. Read somewhere they were sold at Saks 5th Ave.
    A dog walking Milvia towel sold recently on ebay - so the hunt is on for more!
    http://www.zucchi.it/
    Nikki
    vintagedyetopia.com

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  2. Dear Nikki

    I only saw your comment today!... 5th February, sorry it slipped through the net. Thank you so much for your information. I have since found another day of the week which I will be posting soon, they are so wonderful. I am definately hooked and hunting for more.
    Thanks again.

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  3. Hi Dawn, I am a Milvia fan too and am just lacking the Domenica Trattoria towel in the DOW series. I can't find anything about the designer Milvia. If you know any information about her (I am assuming she is female but perhaps erroneously), please let me know. Thanks so much! Cindy :)

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  4. Dear Cindy

    I own Domenica, Lunedi, Mercoledi (see my new post) and Venerdi in the DOW series. I would love to see Martedi, Giovedi, and Sabato if you have any images to send me... then I would know what I am looking for!

    Seeing as I found all four at my mother-in-laws house there is still a slight chance they might come to light.
    I know of another collection the "hours in the day" by Milvia, but I'm afraid I don't have any images or tea towels yet. I can't find any concrete information about Milvia, but I know now that the towels were produced by the Italian firm Zucchi but I am still searching. I will let you know if I find any info. In the meantime thanks for writing.
    Bye
    DAWN

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