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Henri Delcourt--Boulogne-sur-Mer Revolutionary Plate
Certainly in keeping with the
season...must be the summer heat...as both the U.S. and French Revolutions
are distinguished by events occuring in the month of July...July 4th is
Independence Day in America and on the 14th, the French observe the
anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. The plate is featured in this
issue's The Town, the People, and The Pottery
article because of the cannon that is part of the central motif.
The motto
Je veille pour la nation...
means "I watch over the country" and the
ever-vigilant
rooster does indeed watch over his domain as he sees all from atop his
flower-bedecked cannon.
The design commemorates the French Revolution and since the eighteenth
century has been used by different potteries. This particular example
was made circa
1925 by the pottery run by Henri Delcourt in the seaside resort of
Boulogne-sur-Mer. (Boulogne-sur-Mer is located in the department of
Pas-de-Calais).
 The
plate is signed on the back with the mark of the Henri Delcourt factory.
As noted in our book, Henri Delcourt started out as a banker by trade and
his interest in the manufacturing of faîence began just prior to the
outbreak of
World War I when he went into partnership with Jules Verlingue...the
soon-to-be owner of Quimper's HB pottery factory. After Verlingue left for
Quimper, Delcourt continued operations in Boulogne-sur-Mer
concentrating more and more on the production of porcelain rather than the more
labor-intensive faïence. Unfortunately, the economic downturn in the late
1920s let to the eventual closure of the business in 1935.
This plate is faïence and
thus is part of Delcourt's earlier production; it measures 9 inches in
diameter and is in excellent condition with some glaze skips and bloops
that are normal for this era of production.
Henriot Automobile Plate...dated June 1927
The item Jean-Pierre selected to be
featured in this issue's Memo from J-P
was a special commission piece that was individually hand-painted at the
Henriot factory in June of 1927, making it a rare example of a dated piece
of Quimper pottery. Not a typical production piece, it was part of a
limited series of automobile-related designs made for La Crémaillère...a
Parisian publishing house. Perhaps La Crémaillère specialized in
publishing motor touring books, Michelin maps, or Michelin restaurant and
road guides for the traveler...that I don't know...whatever the reason for
the special commission, the plate is wonderful!
The project is believed to have been a continuation of an earlier
collaboration with the students at the prestigious Ecole des Beaux-Arts in
Paris. The central motif was designed by a "P. Mathonat" and consists of
a sleek and elegant car zooming through the countryside. Speed is
artistically implied as trees bend and dust billows in its wake. As J-P
pointed out in his memo...there's no driver and the car appears to be
colliding with a tree...vive artistic license!!!
It is entitled on the front ceux qui aiment à regarder
le paysage meaning "those who like to watch the countryside".
The colors and design are
fabulous; the plate measures 9.675 inches in diameter and is in excellent
condition with just a few teeny-tiny chips to the back edge that don't
show when the piece is displayed.
The
reverse is signed and dedicated on the back as shown in the photo above.
Camille Moreau...Mariés de Kerlouan
Plate
This marvelous plate serves as an illustration of a case where, in the hands of
another artist, an earlier design has been surpassed! This is an HR plate
painted by Camille Moreau...we've written numerous times about this
talented artist, lured away from the Porquier factory in 1891 to initiate
the making of artistic faïence for Jules Henriot only to leave in 1895 to
become a shuttle boat captain!
The Moreau plate is expertly
executed...fabulous colors...
...and beautiful facial expressions...
...on the happy bride and groom from the village of Kerlouan, north of
Quimper.
Moreau's composition was no doubt "inspired" by the drawing by Hippolyte
Lalaisse that had been published some forty-plus years earlier in 1846...
...but somehow, Moreau's version seems much more vibrant with the addition
of a border of swirling blue-on-blue arabesques and the elimination
of the raucous wedding party members in the background...
...a sensational piece...9.875 inches in diameter, in mint condition, signed on the front, lower right, and on the back
with the distinctive "HR, underline, Quimper" of Camille Moreau...
HB Quimper Plate...Pêcheur et Bigoudène...Georges Brisson
This unusual HB Quimper plate boasts
a design created by Georges Brisson in 1923. In keeping with the fisherman
theme of this issue's The Town, The People, and
The Pottery article, the border motif is formed from stylized
fish bones and the central scene features a Breton fisherman in his
colorful cirés, holding his precious fishing nets while deep in
conversation with a beautiful bigoudène.
The plate measures 9.25 inches
in diameter and is in mint condition. There is an area along the plate rim
where the glaze did not fully adhere and a speck of kiln dust in the
fisherman's béret, but these sorts of things are part and parcel of
Quimper production from this era and do not deter from either its charm or
its value.
It is signed HB Quimper in the
design and, on the reverse, it is signed HB Quimper with a squiggle "morse-code"
symbol to signify the artist.
HB Quimper
Roi Gradlon
Coupe à Pied...René Quillivic Footed Dish with King Gradlon, Dahut,
and Morvarc'h
Jean-Pierre really picked an
usual piece to feature in this issue's Memo from
J-P! It's a decorative dish...not really meant for serving
food...but rather intended as an item of art pottery...perfect for adding
a bit of Celtic excitement to an otherwise drab spot!
The interior has a rich,
multi-toned green glaze that serves as a perfect complement to the three-dimensional design on the sides. Throw in a handle in the form of a
horse's head and some bright gold accents and there you have it...a piece worthy of
René Quillivic!
Quillivic (1879-1969) was an
accomplished sculptor, ceramics designer, and a sort of muse for the HB
factory from the 1920s until 1962 when he last utilized the private art
studio that had been set up for him in the attic of the pottery.
This photo postcard of Quillivic in his studio was used as publicity by
the HB factory in the 1920s...
...and this Quimper street sign bears witness to Quillivic's importance to
the community.
The piece measures 8 inches wide and is 3.5 inches high including the
handle (2.875 inches high not including the handle), and 4.3125 inches
deep.
It is in mint condition...all of the gold glaze is
intact and scratch-free.
Popular in the period just after the end of World War II when
this piece was made, the use of a gold glaze required an additional step
and was, thus, reserved for more expensive examples...i.e. pieces of art
pottery rather
 than tablewares. One characteristic of the gold glaze...in addition to
it being
more expensive...is that it was also more fragile...putting the condition of this
example in the magnificent category!
At first glance, I thought the
handle was perhaps a dragon...often used as a symbol in Celtic art...but
knowing that Quillivic was well-versed in Breton lore, it finally hit me
that this is Morvarc'h...King Gradlon's magical horse...the horse that he
rode to safety when his spectacular city of Ys was submerged under the sea...
 ...other parts
of the motif suggest ocean waves; a fanciful depiction of King
Gradlon is on one side while the other has Gradlon's wayward
daughter Dahut!
The coupe is marked on the
bottom as shown...
Porquier-Beau Soucoupe à Thé Pochée
This superb Porquier-Beau faïence soucoupe....
... measures 5.875 inches across and 5.25 inches high. The form is called a
soucoupe à thé pochée...or saucer to hold a cup of hot tea .
The central scene is after one of Alfred Beau's scenes bretonnes...
...original watercolors that he created during his association with the
Porquier factory. The original is annotated as being number 84...planche
84 to be exact...and entitled "Quimper".
Saucers such as these were sold
individually and that is why they are able to stand on their own as
decorative items. This one is particularly endearing with its elegant blue
on blue arabesque border and adorable fisherman...definitely a scene that
is not commonly found...the comprehensive Encyclopédie des Céramiques
de Quimper doesn't show a single example...only the watercolor!
 The
glaze colors and sheen on this piece are superb...no cracks or
restorations...just a few nibbles to the edge.
It is marked on the back with
the entwined "P" and "B" without serifs...signifying that it was made
prior to 1894. (Alfred Beau ended his association with the Porquier
pottery factory at that date and the serif was added to the mark on later
pieces to reflect that change).
Henriot Quimper Plate...Service La Mer by Mathurin Méheut
Mathurin Méheut (1882-1958) was born in Brittany...in Lamballe...and quit
school at the age of eleven to work in his father's furniture-making
studio. Luckily his talent for drawing was quickly recognized and
fostered. After working as an illustrator for a Parisian publisher, Méhuet
was introduced to Quimper pottery...probably through his friendship with
the sculptor Louis-Henri Nicot. This plate is part of the La Mer service created
by Méheut in 1923. It was included in the
Henriot factory's exhibit at the famous 1925 Arts Décoratifs Exposition in
Paris for which both he
and the Henriot factory received a Grand Prize!
In the photographs above and below, you can compare the detail view of the
actual plate with Méheut's original design drawing.
The plate measures 8.25 inches
in diameter and is in excellent condition. It has a few pops and a couple
of small spots of wear to the glaze, but no cracks, chips, or
restorations.
The original service consisted of 88 pieces...plates,
pitchers, soup tureens...all had the distinctive green stripes with the plates
featuring twelve
different central motifs of various creatures of the sea.
The colors are clear and luminous; circa 1925, the plate
is signed on the back with the mark of both the factory and Mathurin
Méheut.
HB Quimper Plate...Pêcheurs series designed by Paul
Fouillen
In many respects, the Breton pêcheur or
fisherman, especially as he is portrayed by Paul Fouillen, is emblematic
of the entire region. Dressed in his ubiquitous large, floppy béret, he
represents a rhythm and way of life that endured for centuries.
And so does Fouillen's petite bretonne...she represents the powerful
Breton female, who rising to economic challenges in the early days of the
twentieth century, altered her
tradition-bound coiffe to accommodate working at the fish canneries.
Penn-sardin they called her...sardine head.
This glorious plate is from
the pêcheur series, created for the HB factory in 1925 when
Fouillen was the head of one of the factory's artistic studios.
It measures 9.675 inches in diameter and has a
colorful border of stylized seaweed...
(Mark made me use this giant image of the seaweed border because he was
unhappy with the photograph of the overall plate...he tried and tried, but
couldn't avoid annoying reflections on the bottom part of the plate,
making it look less vibrant in that area...which it isn't.
But just between you and me, I happen to know
that he has been "campaigning" for a portable studio set-up...)
Anyway, in real life, the plate is gorgeously colorful all the way around!
There's a glaze pop between the
golden-yellow and blue stripe surrounding the central motif that is
original to when it was made. You can see it around "2 o'clock". And it
has lots of "blued-in" areas along the back edge of the plate's rim where
the glaze has flaked off...no doubt due to those dastardly nasty French
plate hangers...I counted twenty-one places where it was blued-in! But as
you can see, they aren't apparent from the front of the plate...
It is signed on the back...
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