Fleur de Lys

I think part of being a Francophile is the love of the Fleur de Lys. The French picked a perfect symbol. You can find it all over French faience. It doesn't stop with faience in my house, I have a fleur de lys chandelier, book ends and even a sweatshirt! Here are a few of my pieces. Hope you enjoy!

A wonderful wall pocket/match holder. Marked CA.



A large CA pitcher found for only $20!




Love this bell and so do my children! Marked Henriot Quimper France.



Small piece found in Nice, France - No mark.
Plate marked Blois. Boulogne pitcher marked with the H arrow D symbol.
.

Again I love the mix of blue and white. This may be one of my favorite

pieces in my collection. Marked only HB.

HB Quimper pitcher. Blois salt. Unmarked egg cup.

History of the Fleur de Lys:

Translated as the “flower of the lily”, is a legendary symbol of France. Initially, it served as a decorative element and can be found as far back as Mesopotamia. Over time, it came to to represent royalty (not specific to France) signifying perfection, light and life.

Here is a fun story about a Fleur de Lys tattoo.

If you are a foodie and visit San Francisco then you must try the

Fleur De Lys Restaurant

I have and it's delicious.

White Wednesday........................by Gay S.

I'm linking to White Wednesday @ Kathleen's wonderful blog Faded Charm, please do visit Kathleen and all the other participants joining in this lovely meme today.

I have heard of one collector of Quimper who only has white or blanc faience, but I have just this one piece.
The white pieces are still made today – look here for a selection.
The plain white enamel certainly lets one really appreciate the lines of the form.

The piece above is ‘Jeune Bigouden’ by Rene Quillivic. I like it because of feeling of movement, it seems he might step off of my shelf any moment! He has a certain ‘joie de vivre’ which some of Quillivics other figurals lack, often the stance or expression is somber or the head is tilted down……never the less I would like either ‘Jeune fille de Plouhinec’ or ‘Jeune Fille au doight dans la bouche’ to accompany him – for now he has to make do with a black cat (more about that later)
Rene Quillivic was born in Plouhinec, Brittany in 1879. He first worked as a fisherman but after a bad storm in which he came close to losing his life he took up woodworking. Inspired by the fine carving he was doing on furniture he went on to study art and won a scholarship to the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris.
As well as producing faience figurals he also designed decors for plates which are quite distinctive and often inspired by tradition Breton motifs. Quillivic is also revered as a sculptor and produced several War Memorials in Finistere. He died in Paris during 1969
The black cat is by a contemporary artist Odile Landry who has also produced a cat sleeping

In the back ground are some older paintings on parchment which I have had re framed…..they are nicely done but some of those ladies look quite fierce!