Cartes Postale

Today we are celebrating Vintage Thingies Thursdays@ Coloradolady please stop by and link here with the other blogs participating there.


With the importance of tourism to Brittany in the late 19th century a series of popular postcards, or cartes postale, were created that celebrated the character of the cities and towns, fishing villages and religious sites. Here are examples of the town of Quimper and the neighboring seaside town of Concarneau.





Fortunately the Breton lifestyle and dress were recorded as much of the traditional dress was disappearing. The white embroidered hats on the women and girls are called "coiffes" and were a tradition of the region.





In the Quimper factories the process of creating the faience was also recorded, which allows us to study their methods, many of which are continued today.

The oldest manufacture of Quimper faience started on the Odet River at the end of the 17th century, in the area of Quimper called Locmaria. In 1771 the HB (la Hubaudiere) factory was established, but competition soon arrived with the establishment of what would become the Henriot factory and the Pourquier factory. All had their own distinct identities and marks, and decoration was limited to finger painting of very simple floral designs. In 1872 the painter Alfred Beau started painting scenes on the faience. It was in this period that the design of the Breton man and woman in their traditional dress was created.

The factories were able to survive different economic times by concentrating on creating domestically-used items such as salt tubs, platters, bowls, and pipes. Over time the factories were consolidated into one, which is still located in Locmaria, and distributes this beautiful faience around the world!

Different procedures were recorded, such as creating the molds or the making the forms:






Other factory workers are shown at other tasks involved with firing, glazing and preparing the molds for painting:






This scene looks like a painter showing us her skill at decorating.



I have been able to collect a number of these cartes postales, from the Collection Villard, as ephemera supporting my faience collection. They can still be found at antique shows and fairs as well as at online auction sites.

Happy collecting!

Melissa B