BLUE has friends......................by Cerelle B

Blue with Red and White says "Homeland" to me, and to the French, "Patrie".

It brings forth feelings of Love of Country, as our flags and patriotic decorations are in this combination.

As we have recently seen in the World War I and World War II plates produced by Henriot, that combination of colors tells us to protect our country even before we read the rest of the message.

Click here and here to read more about these plates.

Let us all today remember and thank all of the men and women who fought to save our world and our freedom. We will not forget, and we salute you all on Veterans Day, November 11, 2009.
This faïence platter by Raymonde Pennanec'h shows the joy of the people on the day of liberation as they dance in the streets beyond the St. Corentin Cathedral in Quimper. (photo by Adela Meadows)


Blue with Yellow says Sea and Sunshine, and Sky and Sunflowers with their faces turned to the sun reflecting that yellow, cheery and happy...and is an oft used combination in the South of France.

This amusing jug with the fabulous flowers is by Delacourt...and the next, in the true intense sunlight yellow, is from Angouleme.


Blues with green says Peaceful and Cool, Meadows and Streams and fresh breezes.
These platters from Geo Martel say it all, do they not?



But blue has a special friend in the colors of Imari. Blue with the Rusty Red and sometimes highlighted with the glint of gold, are beloved and have been adopted in French Faïence.

Rouen, and later Desvres and other faïenceries including Quimper became enchanted with the combination. Many of the great chargers seen in museums are either blue and white or this great Imari inspired coloration, such as this one we saw at the museum in Rouen on our trip with the Quimper Club International in 2007.


I have a special old Imari charger that came to me from my grandmother. She was born in 1869, and I believe she received it no later than 1900. I imagine that it was already old then, but I do not know. It is another case of not being able to read the marks! My father always told me that it had been a gift to her that was brought back from Japan by a missionary friend. That too, was her proudly displayed treasure all her life long. Perhaps this love of hand painted ceramics is in the genes, do you think?




When I acquired two quite large Desvres chargers,
I found it very easy to display them with my Imari
plate and close to my de Porceleyne Fles Delft pieces.

They became immediate friends
and it pleases me to see them close together.


And well, you KNOW how one thing leads to another.

I love roosters, don't we all?
I once found this huge red glazed rooster, no mark at all, in an antique store in Springfield, Ohio...but he is wonderful and so he came home with us.

Then there was the Limoges tankard I saw in an antique store in Pasadena, California. It was SO beautifully painted in lovely reds and golds and some purples on the grapes...just a wonderful piece of art.

I DO NOT collect Limoges, I sternly told myself. But after we returned home, I weakened and wrote to the store and now here it sits among my Delft and my French faïence... my one example of Limoges, and he seems quite happy there, too.







It seems that so many styles of ceramics will be friendly, and the colors can make them very good companions.

I guess when it comes right down to it, my philosophy of collecting must be:
If you LOVE it, you LOVE it!

Blue Monday Rooster Tale by Sarah

Welcome to Blue Mondays hosted by Smiling Sally. It's been a busy holiday, and I apologize for the late post, but wanted to share an interesting anecdote about a fascinating form from the production of the HB-Henriot Quimper faiencerie.

HB-Henriot Quimper Blue Rooster

A number of years ago, Joan Datesman, of Merrywalk Antiques, was at the Quimper Faience store in Alexandria, Virginia autographing copies of her book, COLLECTING QUIMPER. The Janssens, former owners of HB-HenRiot, were also present at the time. In conversation with the Janssens, Joan mentioned that she much admired the blue rooster and recalled that she had first encountered this charming figure at the Quimper airport where she had seen it displayed in a captivating exhibit organized by the Quimper faiencerie. Mr. Janssens, pleased to hear such a compliment, eagerly related the story of the origin for the design of the blue rooster. It seems he was in Paris, when he wandered into an antique shop and noticed a carved wooden rooster atop the end of a long pole. Its purpose had something to do with cooking, and the pole being planted over the fire, such that when the fire was hot enough the rooster would twirl. The piece was several hundred years old, and very, very expensive. Mr. Janssens asked permission to photograph the piece. Permission was granted, several photos were taken, and Mr. Janssens returned with them to the faiencerie where he turned them over to a young girl who was a very fine model maker. The result was this fascinating and unusual folk art rooster. Mr. Janssens considers the blue rooster one of the most successful forms created during his tenure at the faiencerie.

Large HB-HenRiot Qimper Folk Art Rooster;

Small HB-HenRiot Qimper Rooster;

Montgolfier Rooster

To see more blue roosters in Quimper faience click here to read a previous Blue Monday post on Hyacinths For The Soul.

Then click here to head on over to Smiling Sally's for more Blue Monday posts.

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment below. I look forward to seeing you again real soon.

French faïence Rooster party......by Maggie Bryant

This is a first for the QCI Blog, we are joining in a Rooster blogparty being hosted by Barb @ Bella Vista. Click here to see over 200 blogs participating in the fabulous event today.

Lovers of French faïence surely know about the long standing love affair between faïence& le Coq. Think Sonny & Cher, Lennon & McCartney or Simon & Garfunkel (o.k. I'm a flower child of the '60's, what can I say?)

For any Rooster party bloggers who may be visiting us today there follows a short lesson:

History of Le Coq, 101.

The Gallic Rooster (Coq Gaulois), or cockerel, is the French national emblem, as symbolic as the stylised French Lily. From the very roots of French history, the Latin word Gallus means both "rooster" and "inhabitant of Gaul". The French rooster emblem adorned the French flag during the revolution. With the success of the Revolution in 1848, the rooster was made part of the seal of the Republic. In 1899, it was imbossed on a more widespread device, the French 20 franc gold coins. The Coq Gaulois has often been the symbol on French stamps over the years, although now (in 2006) the generic French stamp depicts a stylised "Marianne".

"A chicken in every pot" is more than a political slogan — at the beginning of the 17th century, King Henri IV is supposed to have said "If God allows me to live, I will see that there is not a single labourer in my kingdom who does not have a chicken in his pot every Sunday" (Si Dieu me prête vie, je ferai qu'il n'y aura point de laboureur en mon royaume qui n'ait les moyens d'avoir le dimanche une poule dans son pot )

Source:www.beyondfr.com here

Le Coq & French faïence.

In the December 2003 issue of the Journal QCI member Jeffrey Ruthizer wrote a very interesting and informative article about Quimper faïence from WWI and WWII.

"at the end of WWI the Henriot factory in Quimper began to make the patriotic plates for the famous "Cercle du Soldat" series.

The back of each plate shows the title "Cercle du Soldat du Vie art 1917", the factory mark" HR Quimper and a person's name, either the student artist who designed the image on the plate or, more likely, one of the few remaining artists at the Henriot factory who painted the art student's design."

These are just two of the amazing decors produced, see the full article for more fascinating details about the Cercle du Soldat plates and other patriotic faïence.

Le Coq was also a very popular decor used on snuff bottles and in a tutorial, to be found in the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of the QCI Journal, entitled "Snuff and Secouttes: A History of Compatible Companions" Quimper author & expert Sandra Bondus explains thus:

"Faïence snuff bottles were very affordable. Due to their diminuitive size they were also easy to carry home in pockets and purses as souvenirs of a trip to Brittany. The faïence snuffs became very popular as tokens of affection and friendship.

Thus the heart- shaped form and little books with crowing roosters inscribed with the phrase

"Quand ce coq chantera, mon amour finira" (when this rooster crows, my love will end)

or

"Quand ce coq chantera, mon amitie finira" (when this coq crows, my friendship will end)."

These four book shaped snuffs do not bear a manufacturers mark but are believed to be

L to R: Quimper; AP; Malicorne & Desvres.

But don't worry, in case you are thinking that these these phrases mean the love or friendship offered is a fickle thing, they are in fact positive affirmations.

Since the snuffs are made of faïence this coq will never crow, therefore the love or friendship will be everlasting!