Faïence Creatures Great and Small....We Collectors Love Them All.....by CerélleOr so it seems, by the great variety of animals that one can find. All of the faïence centers seem to have made them - Quimper, Malicorne, Desvres, Moustiers, and others. Perhaps the makers liked them as much as we do.
First represented are the family pets, our beloved dogs and cats who enrich our lives.
They are found in figurine form as well as painted on plates and vases and little bells and other details such as the poignées on the lids of jars or tureens.
This little pitcher was made in Malicorne, and with his
soulful eyes and long ears, seems to me to be a spaniel.
soulful eyes and long ears, seems to me to be a spaniel.
Recently I purchased an early CA plate which really delights me. It shows a peddler selling puppies on the promenade alongside the Seine River in Paris. Behind him can be seen Notre Dame Cathedral, and the sky is dotted with those trademark fluffy white clouds.
He is holding the presumed mother of these pups, and one puppy is being held out while two others are seen peeking out of his pockets.
Oh, dear..I would have wanted ALL of them and the mother, too.
Of likely more recent production is a covered box with a happy reclining Golden Retriever on the lid. This is marked "Hand Painted in France for Tiffany and Co E III AP" This is reminiscent of pieces made for them in Quimper, but the decoration is more in the style of Desvres to my mind. Wherever it was produced, I find it quite charming.
Knowing our love for Poodles... you can imagine my joy at finding a Delft dog, which I believe to be a poodle. Certainly no other dog is shown with a pom-pom tail like this!
And I have a marvelous Malicorne plaque showing a lady holding a sock which her poodle thinks is for him. He isn't groomed "to show", but then neither is mine, and this would have been long ago too.
Look at the grooming, or lack thereof, in this marvelous old photograph of a poodle family. I like to consider it a photo of our Chouette's ancestors!
Next, there are the domesticated animals such as donkeys and goats, which seem to appear mostly as beasts of burden carrying a pair of baskets. These are salts, and this makes them doubly collectible. Both of the ones shown are from Desvres. These are Fourmaintraux Freres production and I am fond of the soft Manganese purple colors and their facial expressions.
Horses appear but not so often. These are candleholders, and as you can see I like to use a set that is not exactly matched, as I do for my dishes. These are HB Quimper and HB-Henriot.And then, too, our little creatures "tuck in" most anywhere and always bring a smile.
There are many others to be found, pigs are especially popular, but whichever ones catch your eye, they are fun to search for and a joy to collect.
