Blue Monday Rooster Tale by Sarah

Welcome to Blue Mondays hosted by Smiling Sally. It's been a busy holiday, and I apologize for the late post, but wanted to share an interesting anecdote about a fascinating form from the production of the HB-Henriot Quimper faiencerie.

HB-Henriot Quimper Blue Rooster

A number of years ago, Joan Datesman, of Merrywalk Antiques, was at the Quimper Faience store in Alexandria, Virginia autographing copies of her book, COLLECTING QUIMPER. The Janssens, former owners of HB-HenRiot, were also present at the time. In conversation with the Janssens, Joan mentioned that she much admired the blue rooster and recalled that she had first encountered this charming figure at the Quimper airport where she had seen it displayed in a captivating exhibit organized by the Quimper faiencerie. Mr. Janssens, pleased to hear such a compliment, eagerly related the story of the origin for the design of the blue rooster. It seems he was in Paris, when he wandered into an antique shop and noticed a carved wooden rooster atop the end of a long pole. Its purpose had something to do with cooking, and the pole being planted over the fire, such that when the fire was hot enough the rooster would twirl. The piece was several hundred years old, and very, very expensive. Mr. Janssens asked permission to photograph the piece. Permission was granted, several photos were taken, and Mr. Janssens returned with them to the faiencerie where he turned them over to a young girl who was a very fine model maker. The result was this fascinating and unusual folk art rooster. Mr. Janssens considers the blue rooster one of the most successful forms created during his tenure at the faiencerie.

Large HB-HenRiot Qimper Folk Art Rooster;

Small HB-HenRiot Qimper Rooster;

Montgolfier Rooster

To see more blue roosters in Quimper faience click here to read a previous Blue Monday post on Hyacinths For The Soul.

Then click here to head on over to Smiling Sally's for more Blue Monday posts.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment below. I look forward to seeing you again real soon.