The Autumn Leaves Outside My Window…by Adela Meadows

The New England Tourist Board has done an outstanding job and, consequently, the east coast of the United States gets most of the press when it comes to “Fall Colors”…but the riot of colors that come with autumn can actually be found in other parts of the world as well…including mon quartier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The banks of the Seine continue to be an ideal place for contemplation…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…or making that phone call while out on a stroll with the dog.

But, where just a few weeks prior, the quays were filled with sunbathers catching rays…


…now the surroundings are ablaze with color…
  
…look closely, there is a window in amongst those bright red leaves…

…that crawl upon the magnificent seventeenth century building that houses the Tribunal Administratif de Paris…
 
…the courthouse where complaints against government bureaucracy are heard. Of course, surrounded by such beauty, it’s difficult to complain…perhaps that was their plan in the first place!

We’re part of an international group of hikers who at least once a month pack a lunch and board a train heading out of town…only to hop off and make our way back to Paris…some twenty to thirty kilometers of interesting conversation amidst the beautiful and historical countryside.
Our October outing provided us with a hint of the colors to come…
…they weren’t quite at their peak yet…but a lovely sight all the same.

Now, with November, the leaves are really falling, but here that doesn’t mean piles of leaves to jump in and play…or worse yet, burn. The French have been experts at recycling for centuries…
…and millions and millions of autumn leaves are carefully gathered to use as wrapping for certain varieties of cheese.

More than just a traditional means of packaging…for some cheeses, autumn leaves are instrumental to the development of the distinct flavor of the product. The leaf-wrapped round of cheese shown to the left is from the region known as the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence…made primarily of goat’s milk, the tannins found in chestnut leaves are a secret to its success. A success of long-standing, as it was reportedly a favorite cheese of Antonius Pius, a Roman emperor in the second century A.D. He found it so tasty, that legend purports that his death was the result of an eating binge…specifically the over-consumption of this particular type of cheese. Of course, the fact that this type of cheese is soaked for weeks in brandy may have been a contributing factor!

Prior to being used to wrap cheese, these chestnut leaves found time to adorn an intricately-formed Porquier-Beau piece…part of the botanique series from the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The series was based on the designs of Alfred Beau.

For the most part, Brittany is not a hot-bed of autumn colors…the heather turns to a ghastly brown and many of the species of ajonc are evergreen. So the leaves on Quimper pottery seldom reflect the colors of the fall season.

Another piece from the same series…a plate full of begonia leaves. The begonia is not a native shrub of Brittany, but its French roots may have led to its inclusion.

The plant was given its name by a seventeenth century French botanist, Charles Prumier, who chose to honor Michel Bégon, an early Governor of Haiti who was an ardent plant collector.

This botanique plate does come rather close to fall colors…
…Beau identified the design only as feuilles pointues…meaning pointed leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

The town of Malicorne in the Sarthe is, however, no stranger to the effects that occur when Mère Nature decides it’s time to rest for the winter and curtails the photosynthesis process…as attested to by these autumn leaves…


 
…which are actually Malicorne faïence knife rests!

Boogie down...Breton style by Adela Meadows

Back in June of '09, during my previous stint as a guest blogger, I wrote about the music of Brittany and noted that where's there's music...there's dancing.

Around here, if it's Thursday...it's time for our Breton dance class. For many years, we've enjoyed dancing at the festivals held during the day...fest deiz...and in the evening...fest noz...but we finally decided it was time to get serious and hone our terpsichorean skills. We're into our second year of the course. There are as many traditional Breton dances as there are traditional Breton costumes and, like the costumes, each town has its own specific version of each dance. The rond de Landéda is quite different from the rond de Saint Vincent and the way they dance the pachpi in Vannes is totally different from the way they dance it in Quimper. Our patient-as-a-saint instructor is from the Ile de Groix in the Morbihan region, but we have been learning variations from as far away as the commune of Guérande.

Some of the dances are for specific situations. The hanter dro, for example, is danced with everyone in a tight line...unan, daou, tri, pevar...one, two, three, four in Breton...our feet moving in concert. Left, right, left...right. Left, right, left...right. Arms tightly linked, we take identical, small, and deliberate steps. The steps of the hanter dro are purposeful, for it is a dance with a purpose...it serves to resurface the terre battue...the dirt floor surface of the typical Breton country home. World-wide, terre battue...literally "beaten earth"...is purported to be the most commonly-found floor surface. Depending upon the amount of clay in the soil, there are different methods of preparing and maintaining the surface. If there is only a small amount of clay, the dirt is simply moistened and straw, hay or, in some cases, manure, is spread on top. Average levels of clay call for a good soaking...the resulting mud is then spread out, smoothed and allowed to slowly air dry. If the clay content of the soil is substantial...as it is in Brittany...then the surface is compacted by foulement or walking on the surface. With floor re-surfacing being a seasonal requirement, the Bretons chose to make an event out of it and the regular foulement of a neighbor's floor is a celebration...with music, food, and hour after hour of dancing the hanter dro.

There are specific dances for announcing a wedding engagement, for celebrating the sale of a pig, for saying farewell to a seaman bound for a six-month-long journey in search of cod, etc., etc. Many of the dances involve linking pinkie fingers to make a chain and the arm movements of each dance are quite specific...and equally as intricate as the foot movements. After a while, you build up a tolerance, but for the first few outings at a fest noz, it's not unusual for one's pinkie to feel a bit sore!

Here are some images of Breton dances...both real-life and interpreted in Quimper faïence...

A happy dancing couple is the central motif on this HB Quimper cake plate

The joyful dance scene shown above is from a Porquier-Beau aiguière

Robert Micheau-Vernez created several pieces inspired by the dances of Brittany...

...this one features a couple from Plougastel performing the ribbon dance

...here, his dancers are quite young...

...not as young as this dancing enthusiast at a fest deiz in Gourin...

...but probably about the age of the dancers from Rosporden featured in this turn-of-the-twentieth century photo postcard

Théophile Deyrolle created this scene; originally an oil painting, it was later used as a Quimper motif by both the Henriot factory as in the charger shown above...

...and the HB factory as seen on this large platter.

Colorfully-dressed dancers from the town of Châteaulin on a Porquier-Beau Scenes Bretonnes plate

Detail view of a grand vase in the window of the Musée de la Faïence in Quimper

A decorative plate personally painted by Camile Moreau during the short period of 1891 to 1895 when he worked for Jules Henriot.

After Moreau left, the same scene continued to be used at the Henriot factory...as demonstrated by this elaborate dolphin footed vase

Another interpretation of the scene originally created by Moreau...

...this time on a piece that was commissioned by the forces that occupied Brittany during World War II

It looks sort of like a Breton version of the tango on this Henriot Louis XV form pitcher

And the following images prove that Breton dancing is not limited Brittany...here we are in Paris...

practice...

practice...
practice!

Meet the Artists!

 Last Friday, the Quimper Club in conjunction with the Galerie Philippe Théallet in Quimper hosted a get-together with several ceramicists and a number of Quimper pottery collectors. Members of the Friends of the Musée de la Faïence de Quimper joined us, and the gathering was most convivial.

Gallery owner Philippe Théallet and author Antoine Maigné discuss Théallet's book about artist Patrice Cudennec.

Many, if not most, of contemporary Quimper ceramicists produce works in other media. Here artist Patrice Cudennec stands in front of one of his paintings, a gardener's patchwork. 

Artist Paul Moal's terra cotta sailors are quite Cubist, particularly the ones glazed in white.

Jean-Claude and Marjatta Taburet both have pieces in the gallery - behind them in this niche is a piece they collaborated on: Jean-Claude's Bretonne is holding Marjatta's plate. The Taburets say that they have a century of production between the two of them, and by all accounts, they are still going strong!

It was a treat to see Pierre Henriot, under whose direction the Faïencerie d'Art Breton has flourished in Quimper and has produced works by both Cudennec and Moal.

The rogues' gallery for the press ... We were honored by the presence of artist Bel Delecourt, who looked at everything and said to me that she was very taken with the Cubist sailors. I introduced her to Paul Moal, and he in turn told her that he had just bought one of her pieces the previous day at the antiques show in Quimper ... a fortuitous encounter!!

Many thanks to Philippe Théallet for hosting us at the Gallery, to Roger and Marga Reinstein of Cybergalerie Reg'Arts for organizing our lunch, to Bernard Verlingue for sending our invitation to the Friends of the Musée de la Faïence de Quimper, and to Yann Clapier for sharing his photographs. Q Club members who attend the meeting in Quimper next September will have the opportunity to meet these and other artists, and in the meantime, more events will be forthcoming ... stay tuned!!


judy datesman

Quimper Faience in Savannah.

QCI members gather outside the saleroom
ready to shop until they drop.

Here at last, for your delectation, photographs from the Members Faience Sale which took place during our Sojourn in Savannah.

Joan Datesman

Ann Marie O'Neill

I'll just sit back and listen to your gasps of amazement at all the beautiful things our member dealers had to offer.

Henry Powell



Fayne Landes

 The choice was stunning, almost overwhelming.

Trisha Johnson

Sadly, Tricia has decided she can no longer devote the time, away from her career as a very succesful veterinarian, to maintain "Maison de la Croix" and was holding a "closing down" sale.

Noelle Beatty

Can you see the door push plate on Noelle's table above, very pretty but more colourful than the ones I recently acquired and so I left it for someone else to snap up.
Click here to see my blue & white door push plates

Philippe Lalys (L) Judy Datesman (R)

Finally, a pair of HR octagonal plates beautifully handpainted with a man and a woman dressed in costumes from my region of France, Normandy and a pretty floral border.

They had to come back to live with me in France.

Back view.

The linked PB mark and Normandie inscription were used by the Henriot faiencerie on regional souvenir wares and date the plates to circa 1920.
I hope that you have enjoyed the virtual visit to the saleroom today, remember as a QClub member you can find links on the QCI website to all our member dealers, including those who sadly didn't make it to Savannah this year.
I'll be linking this post to Laurie's A Few of My Favourite Things Saturday meme, be sure to call in and see all the other participants taking part this week.
Laurie is a fan of Quimper too, who knows she might just join the Club when she sees all the wonderful Q here today.

Views from the trolley bus.

As Lucy previously mentioned, Monday morning of our Savannah Sojourn saw us boarding the Oglethorpe trolleys, once more, this time for a narrated sightseeing tour which we all enjoyed tremendously.

A loving father had these identical houses built
 for his twin daughters as a Wedding Gift,
so the story goes.



The Sorrel Weed House



Savannah's Historic district is world famous for it's cobblestone streets, manicured gardens, and oak-shaded squares draped with silvery Spanish Moss.

From our trolley driver/guides we heard that Savannah is the largest National Historic Landmark District in the United States, with more than twenty city squares filled with museums, monuments, antebellum mansions, magnificent churches, and famous forts of the Revolutionary & Civil War eras.



Many of the Historic homes are embellished
 with richly detailed wrought iron work railings and balconies.





The steps leading up to this beautiful mansion are further
enhanced by a stunning Fall display of pumpkins and mums.

We also toured the Victorian Historic District, Savannah's first suburb, located just south of the Savannah Historic District. Originally a parade ground, the extension of street railways in the late 19th century spurred the development of this neighborhood.

The wood frame houses dating from the 1870s and 1880s are a mixture of several Victorian styles of architecture.

Some of the best examples of these are the Carpenter Box style houses on West Gwinnett Street embellished with ornate brackets and cornices, the Queen Anne style mansion at the corner of Whitaker and Gwinnett, and the imposing Victorian Telfair Hospital on Park Avenue.

(Source:http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/geo-flor/2.htm)