However, something happened at the weekend that has prompted me to blog a little bit about them now.
I was very lucky recently to buy a pair of plates on the internet. They both appeared to be early HB, although only one of the plates bore the HB mark, decorated in what I believe is referred to as “naive” style.
They feature a man standing between two green bushes with his right hand tucked inside his yellow waistcoat and a woman seated and holding a distaff for spinning flax. A border decor of colourful floral sprays and four blue dots complements the scene.
They arrived very promptly a few days later so imagine my despair when I opened the box to discover this.
The buyer reimbursed my payment immediately but oh! quelle dommage for those beautiful plates to have met such a terrible fate. They truly would have been a wonderful addition to my collection.
Have you had a similar experience with an internet purchase? Did you decide to have the piece restored?
On another note Gay S has sent me this link to http://www.armel-gallery.com/ which is hosting an exhibition of the work of Olivier Lapicque from 04 until 22 août 2009. In the December 2003 QCI Journal Corinne Muyard wrote an excellent article entitled “Olivier Lapicque an unusual artist” and it is well worth a second read.
Oh what a shame, I know you were really thrilled to buy this pretty pair of plates....
ReplyDeleteI had a never to be forgotten similar experience with a large Laget platter, again an eBay purchase. As soon as the postman gave me the box I guessed what I'd find: it was a small flimsy box and the platter was wrapped in just one sheet of newspaper.....most of the pieces were so small I considered a mosaic!
Your plates are lovely, I can recommend a restorer....:-)
Yes, Maggie, more than once I've had that sinking feeling when I could hear rattling in the box. And some sellers will not do a thing. That is too bad, I too love the HB plates.
ReplyDeleteOh, no! This makes me ill, Maggie. I've had it happen more than once. It's such a shame. If only all sellers would take the care needed to pack to avoid this type of accident.
ReplyDeleteI, too, have had this experience; luckily, I have a good restorer, but sometimes it is not worth it. However, I save all the pieces because a mosaics class is on my to-do list one of these years! And speaking from the other side of the fence, sometimes a piece has arrived at its moment in its lifetime when it breaks - an internal hairline or a part attached with slip or whatever the cause, sometimes things break in transit despite good packing. (Not that I'm implying that this was the case here ... ) So then it is indeed incumbent upon the seller to do the right thing, which, as you have all noted, does not always happen. I think Internet auctions could be faulted for making it easy for people to sell without necessarily making them behave as responsible sellers.
ReplyDeleteYou know, Maggie, most of the time I have had very good luck..but one time I bought a wonderful Malicorne PBx plate, decor riche border, and a well painted scene..and paid a lot for it too. Can you believe, it came in a small box with one little crumpled up piece of newspaper at one side..Good Grief..of course it had a chunk out!
ReplyDeleteSo off it went, right back to France to the restorer..and it hangs now looking great, but I could have hit that fool who sent it that way!
One of life's mysteries! (I did get some refund at least.)