Upcoming Morlaix Auction

Last week we received our advance copy of the catalogue from Dupont Commissaires Priseurs, Morlaix for their summer auction of all things Quimper.
The date: Monday 4th July.
The time: 2.00 p.m.

For more information click here to go to their website.

Flowers and insects and birds ... oh, my! jd

2 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 Auction of the Winter Season ... jd

30 November – And it's the year-end auction season, kicking off tomorrow with an auction in Brest at Thierry-Lannon & Associés ... let's visit the exhibit before the auction starts!

First, the important pieces. There are three vitrines of Quimper pottery, including a series of Sévellec plates, a number of figures, some platters, and a splendid collection of Porquier Beau botanicals, featuring several different birds.

During the visit, the exhibit hall looks very much like an elegant library in an old stately manor, with interesting paintings, old furniture, vases and sculptures, even old leather-bound books - of course, everything is for sale.

The sale starts at 14h00, and at 11h00, everyone has to leave so that the room can be rearranged for business. Everything in the forefront of this photo gets moved, and rows of folding chairs are set up. The counter in the back of the photo, with three vases and a sculpture, becomes the nerve center of the auction. The two auctioneers are on the right, and on the left, the staff records winning bids and prints out invoices (in my time, this has always been done with computers – I can just imagine how it was in the pre-electronic days). There is a red curtain behind the bookcase in the above photo; behind that curtain, pieces are stored after the gavel comes down. When you are finished buying, you go up front, you get your invoice, and then you go around to the back of the curtain to pick up your purchases. All of this has to be done without interfering with other people's bidding, which is sometimes tricky!

In this auction, I rather like this vase that was done for Macy's – not your usual Quimper.
And there is a piece in the second vitrine that would fit quite nicely in my personal collection – if I get it, I'll let you know!

There are two more auctions in the coming week ... stay tuned.