Damaged goods or favourite treasure? by Maggie Bryant

Recently I was rearranging my Q, a.k.a. playing with faience, when it occurred to me that one of my favourite pieces was indeed damaged quite badly.
In fact I had always meant to have it professionally restored but never got around to it.
It is a large Henriot Quimper vase circa 1930, beautifully decorated with a Breton couple dancing a gavotte on the front and a Porquier Beau inspired botanical on the reverse. Lavish blue on blue acanthus leaf decor around the neck, base and side and the ubiquitous ajonc spray and armorial crest of Brittany complete the decor.
The botanical is the decor that I usually display, as it appeals so much to me, despite this being the damaged side.

Back in the late 1990's a pretty pair of blue and white dishes with ruffled rims were my first Quimper purchase. I found them here in Normandy at an auction being held in a seaside home in Herouville Saint Clair on the Cote de Nacre and they only caught my eye because of my love of blue and white china.
On closer inspection, after I had bought them of course, I discovered that they were very damaged and had been glued together in a very amateurish way but still they spoke to me and I loved them.
A couple of years later I discovered that the HB mark beneath the little lady & gent denoted that they had been manufactured in the late 1800's by the Grand Maison de la Hubaudiere in the famous pottery town of Quimper, Brittany.



They remain two of my favourites to this day despite the breathtaking pieces of Quimper I have seen since then.

So, am I the only quimpernut to love imperfect pieces? Surely there must be other QCI members out there who cherish something battered & bruised.

If so post a comment beneath, your secret is safe with me!