Fondazione Aldo e Edda Lorenzi

Collection of about 2,000 knives, scissors and cutting tools from the Etruscan period to today, open by appointment in the reconstructed setting of the historic Milanese shop.

Opening hours unknown

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About the museum

The collection grew out of the Coltelleria G. Lorenzi, founded by Giovanni Lorenzi in 1929 in via Montenapoleone in Milan as a small knife-grinding business. The shop was later run by his sons Aldo and Franco; Aldo, together with his wife Edda Chiodini, gathered objects connected with the world of cutting for over sixty years. The sales business ended in 2014.

The Fondazione Aldo e Edda Lorenzi was established by public deed on 24 June 2020 and recognised by the Lombardy Region by decree of 23 July 2020, with the aim of keeping the collection permanently together in its premises at Via Correggio 19.

The collection comprises almost 2,000 handcrafted objects, from the Etruscan period to the present day, catalogued by period, provenance, maker, function, material and workmanship; in addition there are over 700 volumes, around a thousand magazines and 150 prints, largely devoted to itinerant knife-grinders. The rooms recreate the atmosphere of the shop with original fittings, including an external display window, the sales counters and oak display cabinets; a reading room allows visitors and scholars to consult the bibliographic material.

Highlights

Almost 2,000 knives, scissors and cutting tools from the Etruscan period to today
Original fittings from the Via Montenapoleone shop, reconstructed in the rooms
Specialist library with over 700 volumes and about a thousand magazines
Prints devoted to itinerant knife-grinders

Founded: 2020
Operated by: Fondazione Aldo e Edda Lorenzi