Some Favorites in Camaïeu Blue By Sarah

Hanging French Shelf with Camïeu Blue Quimper Pottery

With the exception of a small blue willow tea set, we don't have the typical collection one thinks of for blue and white pottery. Ours is not Chinese, nor is it Delft or English. What we do have is a small group of French faïence done in the camaïeu blue technique.

Unmarked Quimper Secouette or Snuff Bottle

It's once again time for Laurie's A Few Of My Favorite Things and also Blue Monday with Smiling Sally. So it's a perfect opportunity to share a group of French faïence done in the camaïeu technique. Camaïeu is a technique where by an object is decorated in varying shades of one color. In this case blue. Pieces are often outlined or shaded in a darker shade and then accented with lighter shades of the same color family.

HB Quimper Doughnut Shaped Teapot with Missing Lid

Though beautiful examples of entire scenes painted in camïeue blue were produced, we unfortunately don't have any in our personal collection. Our pieces painted in this technique are in the fleur de lys decor, of which this doughnut shaped tea pot is a classic example. You can see the outline done in the darkest color and then the use of two lighter shades of blue. All this done on a white glaze background.

HB Quimper Porte Bouquet on Rectangular Base

HR Quimper Tri-Lobed Footed Saucer with Three Small Feet on the Base

Most of our pieces in this decor were produced by HB Quimper. The above saucer is of HR Quimper production. One can see that the decor varies little between these two faïenceries.

HB Quimper Secouette (Front on Left, Reverse on on Right)

This little secouette or snuff bottle was quite a find. Often these small pieces were not marked, but this one bears the mark of HB Quimper on the reverse seen with the ermine tail. It also retains the original cork with wire pull. It is rare to find a secouette with its original cork in place. I've not attempted to remove the cork because of fear it would pull apart, but I can shake the secouette and hear that it indeed has something inside. I suspect it is extremely aged snuff.

Pair of HB Quimper Shell Shaped Dishes

with HB Quimper Heart Shaped Secouette

In Brittany one is never far from the sea, so these little scalloped shell dishes are the perfect shape to reflect a life tied to the sea. The pair shown on either side of the secouette are very delicate in feel, and they are very small in size as you can see compared to the small secouette. They are less than 3.5" x 4.5".

Reverse of HB Quimper Shell Shaped Dish with Mark

The reverse side is also interesting. These little dishes sit on a rimmed base, and the mark includes a G, which I suspect is an artist signature.

HB Porte Carte

This little porte carte was made to hold a small card, perhaps to mark one's place at the table or to hold a small menu card. I have to confess that I've a passion for both porte carte forms and those of secouettes. I like the textural feel of holding these little treasures of the past in the palm of my hand. I'm particularly pleased we have this one because it is done in camïeue blue, and it is the only example in our group of camïeue blue that features a figure.

Reverse of HB Porte Carte

The reverse does feature the fleur de lys, but the feel is very different from the typical fleur de lys pattern shown in the above photos.

Unmarked Perfume Faïence Flask

This last piece doesn't qualify as a camïeue piece, but I have it displayed with the group because it seems to fit in. This is a perfume bottle, much the size and style of a secouette.

Reverse Side of Perfume Flask

You can see from the wording on this side that this was made for Guy Parfumeur. Coeur de Bretagne indicates the heart of Brittany, but perhaps this is simply a reference to this piece being a souvenir of Brittany. I've had no success tracking down any information on this parfumeur. The piece is unmarked other than the references on this side. If anyone has any ideas or knowledge of this piece, please share.

To see more faience produced with this technique click here to read Cerélle's post that featured pieces in her collection, and click here to see Melissa's beautiful collection of

camïeue blue

.

Click here to join others at Laurie's A Few Of My Favorite Things.

Visitors for Blue Monday can click here to go to Smiling Sally's for a list of other Blue Monday posts.

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!