The Town, The People and The Pottery
Volume 23 Number 1
June 2021
June 2021
The western-most part of the continent of Europe, this is a 1683 map of Brittany. Quimper is located to the left of center, above a small island and noted with its name at that time...Quimper-Corentin.
Quimper...pronounced "kem-pair"...is a town in northwestern France. It is also a people and a pottery.
To the people of Quimper, the town name is Kemper, which in their language describes a confluence of rivers. ("Quimper" is a somewhat nonsensical rendition as not all the Breton dialects have a "Q" and a true French pronunciation would be different from the actual "kem-pair"). At any rate, "confluence of rivers" is an apt description, as the town is situated at the juncture of two rivers, the Odet and the Steir. Two other rivers, the Jet and the Frout, are close-by, but travel underground through the town limits. Historically, this close proximity to rivers meant an ideal place to establish a pottery factory and thus, Quimper has been a pottery town for centuries. Its "recent" history of continuous pottery production begins in 1708. (Previous accounts put the date as 1690, but history is not written in stone and recent findings have provided further information).
By the last decade of the nineteenth century, three pottery factories were operating in the town of Quimper. One was the Porquier factory, another was known as the Grande Maison or De la Hubaudière factory, and the third, owned by Jules Henriot, was called the Faïencerie d’Art Breton. Tin-glazed earthenware, known in France as faïence, was a popular product, especially pieces that were hand-painted with scenes depicting life in the region of Brittany.
The making of faïence is an art. Especially in the early days, prior to the introduction of more modern methods, when both the technical and artistic skills necessary to make a piece of faïence were quite daunting. Extremely difficult to master its making, I've been known to liken faïence to being the "puff pastry" of pottery production.
The use of an opaque tin glaze is one factor that distinguishes faïence from other types of pottery...pieces made by this process were known as faïence in France, Spain, Germany, and Austria; in the Netherlands, they were called Delft; in England, the term was Delftware; and in Renaissance Italy, such pieces were called maiolica...not to be confused with majolica, that's actually a trade name of the Minton pottery in England for a Victorian-era product made using substantially different glazes and production methods.
The tradition of Quimper faïence production continues today. But much like the comparison of a Model T with a current Ford Motor Company product, today’s Quimper is very different from vintage Quimper. In many fields of collecting there is a line of demarcation; for Quimper pottery that line is World War II. Modern techniques and machinery introduced in the days after World War II resulted in the creation of a different product. Vintage Quimper refers to pieces made prior to that time period; later production falls into the collectible genre.
Here at www.oldquimper.com, we specialize in vintage Quimper and invite you to come along as we further explore old Quimper...The Town, The People, and The Pottery. If you've just joined us, since 1999 we've been using these pages to extol upon the beauty and intrigue of vintage Quimper pottery and, at the same time, do some "traveling"...and, indeed, over the years, we have visited some of the most picturesque towns of Brittany...each one delightfully different.
Each month, this depiction of King Gradlon by Quimper-born artist Pierre Toulhoat (1923-2014) will herald in a new article about Quimper...The Town, The People and The Pottery.
For the past several issues of www.oldquimper.com, we've been presenting a series of articles designed to provide a primer on the history of Quimper...a sort of abridged and updated version of the story behind The Town, The People and The Pottery. We hope to educate collectors...correcting some long-standing and stubborn misinformation...so that fans of Quimper pottery will become more comfortable with the whys and wherefores of Quimper and what makes it so special. It's also a good lesson in remembering that history is not written in stone and that our knowledge of it can indeed change.
Reminder: in many instances, clicking on the photos will lead to a larger image and please take note that the names and dates given may be entirely different from what you hear or read from various sources. This is an updated and corrected history of Quimper pottery, designed to provide a clear illustration of how styles and techniques from Provence, Nevers and Rouen came together to create the enduring fascination that is Quimper pottery.
In case you just joined our on-going discussion of the history of Quimper pottery…we've made our way from the very beginning of "modern-day" Quimper pottery...Pierre Bousquet's founding of a factory in 1708...following his enterprise through the French Revolution, the beginnings of local competition in the marketplace and the inevitable effects of death and taxes. We focused first on the factory that started it all...what came to be popularly known as HB Quimper or La Grande Maison and then turned to those that followed...the Eloury/Porquier pottery, and then after that, another competing pottery...one that came to be known as Henriot.
Since we're reviewing the history of Quimper's potteries in chronological order based on the date of their opening, the next up was the Fouillen pottery with Keraluc, HB-Henriot, FAB and some independent studios slated among the subjects to follow.
With this month's issue...the beginning of our 23rd year of monthly articles !...we continue documenting the history of the Fouillen pottery. Previously, we had gone over biographical information...born in 1899, first came to Quimper in the early 1920s, etc. We then began looking at examples of Paul Fouillen's work while employed at the HB pottery in an effort to trace his path from creating pieces produced during his earlier days as an employee at HB to those made when he ran his own business.
In case you just joined our on-going discussion of the history of Quimper pottery…we've made our way from the very beginning of "modern-day" Quimper pottery...Pierre Bousquet's founding of a factory in 1708...following his enterprise through the French Revolution, the beginnings of local competition in the marketplace and the inevitable effects of death and taxes. We focused first on the factory that started it all...what came to be popularly known as HB Quimper or La Grande Maison and then turned to those that followed...the Eloury/Porquier pottery, and then after that, another competing pottery...one that came to be known as Henriot.
Since we're reviewing the history of Quimper's potteries in chronological order based on the date of their opening, the next up was the Fouillen pottery with Keraluc, HB-Henriot, FAB and some independent studios slated among the subjects to follow.
With this month's issue...the beginning of our 23rd year of monthly articles !...we continue documenting the history of the Fouillen pottery. Previously, we had gone over biographical information...born in 1899, first came to Quimper in the early 1920s, etc. We then began looking at examples of Paul Fouillen's work while employed at the HB pottery in an effort to trace his path from creating pieces produced during his earlier days as an employee at HB to those made when he ran his own business.
We wrote of his initial work at HB...
...when in the early 1920s, he was responsible for completing the central motifs of some of HB's most elaborate pieces...like this detail view of a scene...translated onto faïence after a painting by Théophile Deyrolle.
Once promoted to head one of the factory's artists' studios, Fouillen produced an incredible body of original designs...
...including this plate dated 1923 that features a lutte bretonne, a local form of celtic wrestling...
...and this plate, which features a couple dancing in their traditional costumes.
Another depiction of a traditional Breton costume...on this vase, Fouillen demonstrates his ability to inject a generous jolt of modernity into HB's production.
We also showed some of his designs for Odetta, HB's line of stoneware art pottery. Paul Fouillen was the creator of an astonishing number of different Odetta designs...75 in all ! Odetta required different and more costly materials and techniques; produced for a limited time, it was marketed to an upscale strata of society. Here's another example...
...and one more...
In 1926, Fouillen...while still employed at HB...embarked on an entrepreneurial adventure. Soon joined by his brother-in-law, Hervé Patérour, Fouillen adapted his distinctive designs to different supports...
...a glass pitcher gets the Fouillen treatment...other supports included leather and metal...
...as well as illustration art...a bigoudènne goes modern in this 1926 drawing...
...another Fouillen illustration...this time of three dancing Bretons...
...and another Fouillen illustration was used on the cover of Quimper's automobile club's brochure for the summer of 1935...
Also around that time, Fouillen designed a series of postcards...
But by far, the most prolific production involved decorating on wood...everything from decorative desk accessories to the desk itself.
This vintage photograph of a dapper Paul Fouillen was taken in 1937 while he was participating in an exhibition of his wares.
Pyrography...decorating an object by burning in a design...particularly on wood...was very popular at the time and Fouillen's versions were well-received. We showed you a few examples of Fouillen's pyrography produced during this time period in last month's issue...here are some more...
The two small circular powder cases on the upper left and the decorative plate on the upper right are in metal...the four other pieces are made of wood.
The majority of Fouillen's pyrography on wood were smaller decorative items...
...like a serving tray decorated with a tavern scene with Bretons enjoying cider from Quimper pottery cups...
...a box with a solo Breton with cider...
...a pair of bookends with Bretons catching up on the news...
...detail view of the central motif on another serving tray...Bretons playing a game called Mölkky. Somewhat like bowling, the "molkky" is lanced toward twelve quills numbered one through twelve. The object is to knock down enough quills to precisely total 50. Going over 50, bumps the player's score down to 25.
A Breton couple in front of a countryside chapel is the central motif on this Fouillen wooden charger.
When Fouillen was first hired at HB, the firm was in the midst of a contentious lawsuit with the Henriot pottery over trademark infringement. Mindful of this, Fouillen was quick to register his designs. Still copycats were equally quick to attempt to garner a piece of the market.
An oldquimper.com reader asked about some pyrography pieces that she was sure were by Fouillen, but questioned the different signature...
...our verdict...they were not Fouillen; but the work of one of the more prolific of Fouillen copycats...who signed his or her production "R.Pradiec".
Undaunted by others trying to muscle in, Fouillen continued to expand his production and entire rooms were created...
This suite of Fouillen furniture is part of the collection held by the Musée Départemental Breton. The round lamp on the sideboard is an example of Fouillen's art glass production.
Another view of the suite...the examples below show the joinery method employed Fouillen...
...the mortise and tenon process made for a strong product and was in keeping with the back to basics "Arts and Crafts" movement of that era.
In 1928, Paul and Anna welcomed a son, Maurice, and with the success of the pyrography to bolster his courage, in 1928/1929, Fouillen quit his job at HB and purchased what had once been a dance hall/restaurant located alongside the Odet River in Locmaria's Place Styvel...
The yellow building on the right was the Fouillen pottery factory...the large building on the left is just that...the Grande Maison that once housed the original HB pottery.
Around the mid-1930s, Paul Fouillen turned once more to faïence. Not yet having a kiln of his own, Fouillen had his pottery fired at Henriot. Why Henriot and not HB ? That remains a mystery, but one thought is that since his friend, Jules Verlingue, was no longer involved with HB...Verlingue left in 1932...perhaps the new HB administration was not open to the idea. At any rate, Fouillen went with Henriot.
One way some of his production from this collaboration can be distinguished is by the forms utilized..some of them are recognizable Henriot forms, like this one that had been designed for Henriot in the 1920s by Suzanne Creston.
The Breton-inspired motifs from his pyrography designs were now produced on pottery...painted using the underglaze technique which was less costly to make since it required less-skilled labor. This photo is a detail view of part of the special exhibition on the Fouillen pottery held in 2015 at Quimper's Musée de la Faïence.
It was a Fouillen fan's dream come true...
The original poster promoting the exhibition.
Here are some additional examples of Fouillen's early "entrepreneurial" pottery...pieces made without any constraints caused by working for someone else.
Some of these earlier pieces were accented with blue paint...a paint that had a tendency to flake. Signed on the front with the typical PFouillen signature, the reverse simply has a hand-written "Henriot".
Unique shapes were soon the order of the day...this serving dish features two separate compartments and a handle formed from figural Breton musicians.
This colorful two-handled cup...
...this Breton-handled pitcher...
...along with another Breton-handled pitcher are all marked on the reverse "Sterodet PF Quimper". Note the flaking blue paint to the roof on the pitcher pictured above...as previously mentioned, this is somewhat of a hallmark for Henriot-era Fouillen.
In 1936, Fouillen's partner left, relocating to Paris, and the 1940s brought the Nazi Occupation resulting in the factory's production being severely curtailed. Paul Fouillen continued producing pyrography using existing supplies, but customers were understandably few and far between.
That's it for this issue...our exploration of Brittany...its towns, its people and its pottery...will continue in our next webisode. We publish a new issue on or about the first of each month. If you would like an email reminder when a new issue comes out, please contact us at oldquimper@yahoo.com. ...and be sure to check your computer settings...because sometimes unless you change them, we end up in your SPAM folder !