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Paul Fouillen Trivet/Cheese Plate

There's some question as to the original purpose of this form...we're calling it a trivet/cheese plate based on old factory catalogs...one old catalog shows it being used as a trivet for a bottle of cider and in others this shape is called a cheese plate.

It measures 5.25 inches by 5.25 inches and is .5625 inches high.

Where there is no question is the impact of the design...pure Paul Fouillen!

As noted in this issue's The Town, The People, and The Pottery article, the bretonne is wearing the distinctive coiffe of the commune of Quimper.

It is signed on the front...

with the personal signature of Paul Fouillen.

On the reverse is the mark of the Henriot pottery...

...indicating that this piece was made in the early part of Fouillen's solo career...he left the HB factory in 1928...since before he installed his own kiln, he fired his works at the Henriot factory.

Appearance is good, but as a functional piece it has had a few dings in its life. Most of the corners have bits of glaze loss and many of the blue stripes have areas where missing glaze was professionally restored...but again the appearance is good and the design is so striking that any imperfections are not even noticeable!!

Malicorne Quintal with Normandy Motif...Pot d'Etain Pottery


Jean-Pierre has selected a most unusual vase as his subject for this issue's Memo from J-P.

Fabulously painted on both sides...

It is a quintal...a vase with five openings...a form of tulipière if you will. It measures 4.75 inches high, 5.25 inches wide, and 1.675 inches deep.

The form is superb and the quality of the painting is marvelous...

A peasant from Normandy lounges on one side...the scene is entitled Granville...a town on the Bay of Mont Saint-Michel that is sometimes referred to as the "Monaco of the North"...more to do with its rocky location rather than glamorous lifestyle. This side is accented with rococo swirls.

The other side has a gorgeous botanical scene...

...accented with a "loop and dot motif" .

It was made at Léon Pouplard's  Pot d'Etain pottery circa 1900...

...and is signed on the bottom with the "PB" of Pouplard-Béatrix.

It looks perfect, but on close examination, some of the floral openings have areas of "blueing-in"...seems to be the norm for a piece of this age and function. As you can see, they are not really noticeable, but we wanted to point them out. A really wonderful piece!

Cheese Please...Elegant HR Quimper Rococo Fromager

The perfect size for miraculously transposing an ordinary round of brie into a gastronomique extravaganza! The lid features a sweet petite bretonne...

...wearing the traditional workday costume of the Quimper area that was worn throughout the first part of the nineteenth century.

A richly-decorated and very painterly example...


...it belies its humble functional purpose...

...of being a tableside receptacle for cheese.

Bursting with decorative motifs that include...

...the crest of the town of Quimper...

...sprigs of bruyère...


...that alternate with sprays of ajonc...


...between scallop shells...


Throw in a blue on blue arabesque border...

...and you've got yourself one gorgeous Quimper faïence fromager!

It measures 9.25 inches at the widest and is 3.875 inches high. Condition is good...just about all of the decorative elements that adorn the edge of the lower portion have chips to the underside...they, as you can see from the photographs, don't show. There is also a short line on the edge of the lid...hardly noticeable and perhaps from the molding because the piece still "rings" true. In the photograph above, it is on the lid just above the !eft side of the yellow and gold striped accent...I think you'll agree that it is barely discernable.

The lid is signed HR Quimper underneath the petite bretonne; the bottom is signed...

...HR Quimper 12...a very talented artist that number 12.

Henriot Plate...Mannelik

This out-of-the-ordinary Henriot plate features a lovely petite bretonne wearing a circa 1920 costume à la fouesnantaise...meaning from the area named after the town of Fouesnant...an area comprising several towns including Pont-Aven.

Here's a famous image of the costume of Pont-Aven circa 1890...

...a painting by Paul Gauguin of Marie-Angélique Satre who is often described as having been one of the great beauties of the area.

I don't know about you, but I think Mannelik...

...would give Madame Satre a real run for the money in the beauty department!

The plate measures 7 inches in diameter and is in excellent condition...there is a small, unseen-from-the-front chip to the underneath of the edge at "3 o'clock" and some naturally occuring craze lines within the Mannelik area.

It is marked on the bottom...

Henriot Quimper with the number 135.

Here's a photograph of a group of young lovely petite bretonnes and their escorts that we came upon during this summer's visit to Brittany...they are all wearing the costume à la fouesnantaise that is reserved for a festive occasion...


Mannelik is wearing a less ornate costume...

...not her festive occasion outfit, but her everyday outfit. With her market basket on her arm...she appears to be headed out to do some shopping.

Sprigs of bruyère (heather)...


...and ajonc (broom)...

...decorate the border...making for a very unusual and endearing plate!

Fantastic HR Quimper Jardinière aux Personages

Wow!

No need to add flowers to make a knock-out statement with this piece. Large, impressive, and ever so wonderful...it features traditionally-dressed Bretons standing on rococo "waves"...one to each side of the central vase portion formed in the shape of a ducal crowned crest. It measures 14 inches high, 18.125 inches wide, and 7.25 inches deep.

On the mantel, sideboard, or placed center stage on the dining room table...it's a gorgeous piece from all angles...

...and I do mean "all angles"...

One side of the vase portion features the ducal crest of the town of Quimper, accented with lions, scrollwork and sprays of golden ajonc...

...the attention to detail is superb...you can easily see the spiky thorns of the ajonc or gorse plant and picture them being used as a handy place to dry clothes. Branches of dried ajonc were also bundled together to be used to sweep the floor...which explains why the plant is sometimes known in English-speaking areas by the name "broom".

The other side is equally as impressive...

...and features the crest of the Brittany region with rows and rows of stylized ermine tails.

A snappily-dressed petit breton stands to one side...

...while an attractive petite bretonne adorns the other...

Both wear the costumes worn in the Cornouaille region of western Brittany in the mid-1800s...specifically the costumes worn in the commune of Fouesnant...which comprises a large area and includes a number of towns...Rosporden, Elliant, Scaër, Quimperlé, Pont-Aven, etc.

It is signed on the bottom...

...HR Quimper with the number 2 to indicate the artist responsible for its decoration...and what a decoration...the colors are glorious...the costumes are carefully detailed, there are lots of blue, green, and gold swirls to the base, and a wonderful blue arabesque design on the sides of the crest. It dates from circa 1910 and has had a professional restoration to the top of the crown and as well there are bits of missing glaze here and there...not chips, just spots where the old thick glaze used during that era of production flaked off. It also has some firing lines...separations that appear in the firing and are caused by the weight of the clay. These are not at all unusual for a piece of this magnitude and being among the swirls of the base are not obtrusive. Appearance is fantastic...

...there is so much going on with the decoration and the form, that the imperfections are slight and scarcely noticeable...they are all there in the photographs and as you can see, it is definitely a very impressive piece!

Porquier-Beau Jardinière

Whether filled with flowers and set in the center of the table or on  a sideboard, or on its own on a shelf...

...this is an outstanding Porquier-Beau jardinière that is sure to impress.

One side is painted with a charming scène bretonne...

...an uncommonly found scene of a lovely couple from Quimper strolling along behind a man with a cane and a bombarde player...one of the rituals of a Breton marriage where the newlyweds traditionally go from village tavern to village tavern...and dance before the celebrating patrons. It is expertly painted...the detail of the village in the background is stunning.

The other side...

...features an elegant double crest...that  of the Duchy of Brittany and on the right, the crest of the town of Quimper...


...all set within beautiful Rouen-inspired floral motifs...

It measures 16 inches wide, 5 inches high, and 8.25 inches deep.

The edges of three of the feet have some minor dings that have been "blued in", but as you can see, the appearance is excellent.

It dates from 1894 to 1903 and has the entwined P and B mark with a serif...
 

A lovely piece...ready to take center stage!

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