Sunday Favourites Rerun with Chari.

For Chari's Sunday Rerun  @ Happy to Design this week I'm sharing once again a wonderful post about Porquier Beau plates byJudy D.
I will be lucky enough, next week, to attend this years auction and after browsing the catalogue I know that there is a little something that I would like to add to my ever growing collection of Normandy related Quimper souvenirs.
Wish me luck. I'll be blogging about our trip to Brest on our return.

December 2009 - It would appear that the market for Porquier Beau botanical pieces, particularly plates, is having something of a comeback. At yesterday's auction, there was a splendid series of early PB botanical plates – not only did they have the blue intersecting P and B, but they also had PB impressed in the clay – and there was much interest and a lot of bidding. There were two major bidders on the phone for the whole series (and one in particular now has some very nice additions to his/her collection!), and at times there were as many as four phones going. The glaze on these plates was exceptionally good, as was the quality of the painting. They all came from the same collection, but when and how that collection was constituted was never mentioned. (Sometimes you can figure out where some pieces come from, and other times it remains a mystery. It is very bad form to ask!)

The estimates ranged from 1000 to 2500 euros, and almost every piece went over the estimate. Here are some of the winning bids ... gavel price (not including the buyer's fee).

My personal favorite – I like the snail (but only on this plate; I do not want to see him in my garden) – 1150 euros.

This plate has a splendid pineapple as well as two insects – 2300 euros.

A bird with a red crest, a rather exotic decor – 3200 euros.

A very nice pair of beetles, called scarabs – 2250 euros.

And this thrush was the high point of the sale of PB plates – 3700 euros.

This butterfly is a lovely blue one – 2700 euros.

And the seahorse was the lone denizen of the watery depths represented in this sale; he is rarely seen on the market – 3100 euros.






My thanks to Thierry-Lannon & Associates for letting me take and use photos of this sale!


We'll be making a quantum leap of about 50 or so years into other cultures for the next auction ... stay tuned!

First Anniversary Giveaway, we have a winner.........................by Maggie B

Today's the day we announce the winner of the QCI First Anniversary Giveaway. One lucky visitor has won this beautiful heart shaped pendant necklace which Brittany Byways kindly donated from the Henriot Bijoux range.

We received 38 comments on our 150th post and thanks to Random.Org our winner is:
Comment #34 from Mary @ thelittleredhouse: "Oh, how beautiful! What a wonderful restoration! Thanks for sharing at MM. :)"
Congratulations Mary, please get in touch by emailing quimperpix@gmail.com with your full name and address and the necklace will soon be winging it's way to you.

We are joining in with one of my favourite meme's Sunday Favourites today @ Chari's Happy to Design with a rerun of a post from Trisha, our first guest blogger.

Paris in the Spring.......................

Well, I've just spent the last hour writing a post that vanished in thin air. So much for the autosave feature. A warning to other guest bloggers: if you are previewing your post, do NOT hit the back button as this erases your draft.
so where was I...
I arrived in Paris on March 21st with my mother, sister, and 13 month old nephew in tow. None of them had ever been to Paris before and I was finally able to convince my mother to get on a plane that crossed over the ocean.
My sister's college roommate is from Montpelier in the south and now lives in Paris with her family. TaTa Trisha (french familiar form of aunt) was a bit naive regarding the complexities of traveling with an infant but all in all we had a great time.

Though the calendar indicated it was spring, no one told the weather as it has been cold and blustery. Paris is still waiting for March to go out like a lamb.

My mother enjoyed tea at Laduree and the lovely breakfst pastries and little Ethan enjoyed the playground at the Luxembourg gardens all bundled up against the cold. I enjoyed having my family finally get to see the city I love so much.

As for faience, Paris really is not the best place to shop but lets be honest, we come to Paris for the food and the fashion.

The Puces des Paris are located at opposite ends of the city and occur every weekend. The Puces St. Ouen are actually just outside Paris proper in the north and are made up of a number of permanent markets.

Most of the faience is found at the Marche Paul Bert/Serpette and the Marche Vernaison. There is a great little cafe in the outside poriton of Paul Bert that serves a wonderful hot chocolate with a generous bowl of whipped cream a la Angelina's without the price and the wait. It is a great consolation if you don't find any Quimper and a little celebration if you do.

Most of what you will find though is Malicorne and Desvres, some HR and the occasional piece of HB and Porquier Beau. Much of the Quimper is of recent vintage and just not that attractive or attractively priced.

At the opposite end of the city is the weekend puce set up on the sidewalks outside of the Porte de Vanves metro station. Here again you will find mostly Desvres and Malicorne with lots of other really fun things for your house.

This weekend, I found a set of 8 cute animal knife rests from Geo Martel and Fourmaintroux Corquin, some unmarked Malicorne plates, and a large panier form Fourmaintroux Freres. I also saw a painting with a large Quimper pitcher on the breakfast table and other Breton things.


From there, it was off to the Square de Batignolles in the 17th arr. for a week-long fair that is held annually. These are the types of fairs I like the most in Paris as the quality of the dealers is usually quite good and they have the best fair food I've ever encountered. One of the best is the twice yearly Brocante and Foire de Jambon held at Chatou just outside of Paris. This is one Ben loves to go too as he gets to gnaw on some gigantic piece of pork while I shop.

Le Chineur magazine has a small cover article this month on Quimper and is a good source for the brocante calendar.

http://www.la-brocante.com/

www.vide-greniers.org

and

www.pointsdechine.com

are other good sources for brocantes and such all over France.


If you love Paris, macaroons, and pastries in general, Carol Gillot's blog "Paris Breakfasts" is a lot of fun. She is a watercolor artist who paints out her obsession with Paris and pastries.
A bientot

Trisha