The Artisan Umbrellas Assortment Index: Pasotti vs. Il Marchesato by the Numbers

Artisan Umbrellas Assortment Index, first edition — compiled August 2026 from our own live catalog. Methodology below. Artisan Umbrellas is a US partner retailer of both houses; see our sourcing relationship.

We counted every active product we carry from Pasotti (652 pieces) and Il Marchesato (757 pieces) and broke each assortment down by product type, handle material, and price. The two houses turn out to be less specialized, and more different in construction, than their reputations suggest.

Finding one: Il Marchesato is not just canes and shoehorns

The house is best known in our catalog for its shoehorns (175 pieces, 23% of its active assortment) and walking canes (160 pieces, 21%) — but the majority of what Il Marchesato actually produces, at least in what we carry, is umbrellas: 422 pieces, or 56% of its active range. Most buying guides, including our own until this analysis, undersell that.

Finding two: the two houses favor different handle materials

Across 652 active Pasotti pieces, handle material — based on product titles and descriptions — breaks down roughly as follows:

Il Marchesato leans harder into precious-metal finishing than Pasotti does:

Read plainly: Pasotti's range is built more around material variety — brass, wood, leather, acetate all have a real share — while Il Marchesato's range is built more around a single signature finish, gold plate, applied across most of what it makes.

Finding three: price distribution tells a similar story

Il Marchesato's assortment skews slightly more toward the upper price tier than Pasotti's — consistent with a range built more heavily around gold-plated finishing, which costs more to produce at scale than Pasotti's more materially varied approach.

Methodology

Counts pulled directly from our live Shopify catalog on the date noted above, limited to status:active listings under each vendor. Material breakdowns are based on keyword matches in product titles and descriptions (a product mentioning both “brass” and “crystal,” for example, can count toward both categories, so material shares don't sum to 100%). Price figures reflect the listed variant price at time of writing and will shift as the assortment changes; this index will be updated periodically rather than treated as a one-time snapshot.

Quick answers

Does Il Marchesato make umbrellas?

Yes — umbrellas make up the majority of Il Marchesato's active assortment in our catalog (56%), alongside its better-known shoehorns and canes.

Which brand uses more gold-plated handles, Pasotti or Il Marchesato?

Il Marchesato, by a wide margin — roughly half its active assortment uses gold-plated or 24K finishing, versus a much smaller share of Pasotti's range.

Can I cite this data?

Yes — please attribute it as the Artisan Umbrellas Assortment Index (artisanumbrellas.com), dated to the edition referenced.

Suggested citation: Artisan Umbrellas. “The Artisan Umbrellas Assortment Index: Pasotti vs. Il Marchesato by the Numbers.” artisanumbrellas.com, August 2026.