Quite The Dish

Milan's Laboratorio Paravicini has become the atelier of choice for bespoke, hand-painted plates that elevate a table to a work of art.

- Naomi Rougeau

Tablescaping in Milan is serious business. In this design-oriented city, every well-coiffed sciura worth her salt relies on an arsenal of the finest flatware, crystal, linens, and more. And in certain spheres, you'd be hard-pressed to find any easily identifiable china pattern, for this is a milieu where, refreshingly, individuality is still prized. Among the most coveted makers? Laboratorio Paravicini.

Launched in the early 1990s by Costanza Paravicini in a historic 18th-century compound where she and her family still reside, the enterprise initially was a hobby for the skilled artist, who couldn’t find any plates on the market that spoke to her. Word of her wares quickly spread around Milan and a business was born that now includes Paravicini’s two daughters: Benedetta and Margherita Medici. What distinguishes Laboratorio Paravicini, apart from the intricate hand-painted designs that run the gamut from art deco to avant-garde, is perhaps the ultimate luxury: dishwasher-safe ceramics.