The Town, The People and The Pottery
Volume 22 Number 12
May 2021
May 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, 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 like the charger shown below...produced during his earlier days at HB...
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, 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 like the charger shown below...produced during his earlier days at HB...
...to pieces like the very different faïence mask pictured below...
...that was made when he had his own pottery.
We left off last month in the Musée Départemental Breton...admiring a vitrine full of pieces that Paul Fouillen had made at HB. Those were pieces produced from 1922 or so on up to 1924. We continue our visit with this companion vitrine...
...it holds later examples...from 1925 to 1926 or so.
1925 was a pivotal year for Paul Fouillen...his contributions to the HB factory's presentation at the Paris Arts Décoratifs exhibition were well-received.
This large footed coupe displayed at the Musée de la Faïence along with three of his pêcheur series plates was awarded a silver medal in the exhibition's ceramics competition. It measures more than 18.5 inches in diameter and is just under 16 inches high. The exterior of the coupe has a ring of stylized dancing bretonnes dressed in one of the traditional costumes of the Pont-l'Abbé region...
...and the interior features a kaleidoscope of dancing bretons.
As head of a studio at HB, Fouillen was responsible for teaching as well as designing...and a further feather in his cap was the bronze award the jury of the Arts Décoratifs exhibit presented to Marguerite Soudene...one of his "students".
The vintage postcard pictured above shows Paul Fouillen as he explains a technique to a member of his staff and the covered vase is the award-winning vase created by Marguerite Soudane.
Examples of Odetta, HB's line of stoneware art pottery, were part of the factory's presentation at the exhibition and, in all, Paul Fouillen was the creator of an astonishing number of 75 different Odetta designs.
Here are just a few of his designs for that particular line of art pottery:
Here are just a few of his designs for that particular line of art pottery:
An impressive vase that stands over 27.5 inches high...
...the "re-invention and modernization" of a traditional Quimper pottery basket form...
...a 13 inch tall vase with a central motif of a traditionally-dressed Breton pulling a rope...
...a charger decorated with a couple from the Quimper region...
...adding the element of sculpture to his designs, on this vase, Fouillen incised the features of an older bigoudènne...a woman from the commune of Pont-l'Abbé.
Odetta required different and more costly materials and techniques; produced for a limited time, it was marketed to an upscale strata of society.
Another Fouillen-designed Odetta piece featuring an incised design.
The successes of 1925 prompted Fouillen to think about spreading his entrepreneurial wings. There's some speculation that there had been a bit of creative friction brewing between Fouillen and the HB administration. At any rate, within a couple of years of his phenomenal success at the exhibition...he was but 26 years old at the time...and with the encouragement of his wife and in partnership with his brother-in-law...
...Paul Fouillen rented the garage of this Locmaria house...just a stone's throw from the HB pottery...and started producing decorative accessories in wood, glass, leather and metal. Not pottery...not just yet...because he continued to work at HB.
A vintage advertising postcard featuring wood and leather items by Foullen. The decorative technique used...pyrography...was a popular trend during the 1920s. Pyrography translates to "writing with fire" and Fouillen's work was successful. Such a success that to combat a growing number of knock-offs, he soon registered the trademark shown in the postcard...a diamond form with "PF" in the center surrounded by Quimper Deposée.
Some examples of Fouillen's work from this time period...
Wooden sculptures of a Breton couple flank an original pattern for designs and three pyrography pieces.
Fouillen's early production strove to give a decorative flair to the simplest of forms and functions...
...including everything from wall plaques...
...to glove boxes...
...and serving trays.
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 !