Saturday 18 December 2010

Mini QCI rendevous in Brest, Brittany.

This past week saw the Thierry-Lannon December Quimper auction take place at l'Espace Port de Plaisance de l'Hotel des Ventes.

We met up with Dale, Anne-Marie & Judy beforehand for lunch, which was a lively affair as we caught up with each others news and reviewed this years QCI meeting in Savannah with Dale who hadn't been able to attend.
Dale is the 1st VP elect, and his main responsibility, from January 1st, will be the planning of future annual meetings.

We got the inside track on his ideas for meetings in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015!
I could share this information with you here but then I'd have to kill you.
I'm sure it won't be long before you're hearing it from Dale and the rest of the new Board in 2011.
There were some lovely items up for sale during the auction and prices were very reasonable.
One treasure that appealed was this large melonnière with swan neck handle, finely hand painted with the figurine of a lady dressed in the traditional costume of Normandie, carrying an umbrella (of course) and assorted floral decors.

This Henriot Quimper piece was originally produced in the 1940's, as a holiday souvenir to be sold in the seaside town of Le Tréport, and now, fittingly, it's back home in Normandy.
As we were preparing to leave the auction house I was approached by a young French man, a QCI blog follower who had also attended the auction.
Imagine! He had some very kind and complimentary things to say about the blog, too.
He mentioned that he finds our posts very informative overall, always enjoys seeing our collections and learning about the variety and history of faience from other collectors.
I didn't catch his name and he isn't a member of the QCI, yet (!) but I believe he plans on joining in 2011 in order to meet up with us all again next year at the annual meeting in Quimper.
Just think, if we all recruited a new member from time to time in this way the membership would soar!

4 comments:

  1. This was a wonderful post! Did anyone in your party buy anything??? I'm not a member AND I haven't even bought my very first piece, YET!!! I'm trying to learn about this so I will recognize what to look for...Thank you for having this blog,
    Have a wonderful Holiday,
    Donna

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  2. Maggie, the melonnière is lovely. We've one of these and also a smaller version that I keep an ivy in. I find this form most charming with the swan necks. Glad you all had a great time! Thanks for sharing the photos. ~ Sarah

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  3. How great to see you all together..wish I could have joined you for lunch. The news that we have a blog reader who is that interested is just wonderful! Let's hope he does join. We would certainly welcome him and I know he would have a great time with us.

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  4. What a rogue's gallery!! To answer Donna above, we ALL bought things. Marcel doesn't know that at least one of his Christmas presents is coming from this sale ... In any case, the entire event - lunch, chatting, the sale - was a delightful and nostalgic way to usher in the holiday season, and we hope that Maggie and Mr B will come back again soon!! Joyeuses Fêtes ... judy

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