The Town, The People and The Pottery
Volume 24 Number 2/3
July/August 2022
July/August 2022
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 and after that, the Fouillen pottery.
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 Keraluc pottery. Founded in 1946, in the last months, we followed Keraluc's early days and its success as a sort of incubator for ceramic artists. After the death of the founder, Victor Lucas, in 1958, the pottery went through several twists and turns...finally putting the key under the mat in 1984. Pottery molds and the rights to the use of the Keraluc mark were later sold to the HB-Henriot factory, but the results essentially mirrored that firm's cataloged production rather than serving as an encouragement for ceramic artistry and innovation.
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 and after that, the Fouillen pottery.
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 Keraluc pottery. Founded in 1946, in the last months, we followed Keraluc's early days and its success as a sort of incubator for ceramic artists. After the death of the founder, Victor Lucas, in 1958, the pottery went through several twists and turns...finally putting the key under the mat in 1984. Pottery molds and the rights to the use of the Keraluc mark were later sold to the HB-Henriot factory, but the results essentially mirrored that firm's cataloged production rather than serving as an encouragement for ceramic artistry and innovation.
But the idea of Quimper as an art pottery simmered in the background and the second half of the twentieth century saw the establishment of a number of relatively little-known studio potteries...so many that almost every day we receive a photo in the mail asking..."Is this really Quimper ? "
These smaller studio potters of the 1950s, 60s and 70s are also part of the history of Quimper pottery. Many of the artists had previously contributed in one way or another at one of the principal Quimper factories before deciding to work independently.
In our last few issues, we highlighted a number of these independent studios...presenting examples and artist marks to help you identify your "mystery" pieces of Quimper pottery. The Quimper origin of pieces by the Atelier du Steir of Georges Connan and Jos Le Corre, Alain Piclet, Patrick Chassepied (Patrik), Jean-Sébastien Le Pemp (Bastian) Corentin Le Pape, Louis Nédélec, Claude Bernard, Simone Carrié (Kercy), Yves-Alain Pleuven (Youen) and Guy and Gisèle Trévoux should no long be in question.
We ended the discussion with unique examples of Quimper pottery created by Jean-Claude and Marjatta Taburet...
We ended the discussion with unique examples of Quimper pottery created by Jean-Claude and Marjatta Taburet...
...who will be the subjects of next year's Musée de la Faïence exhibition. In the image above, Marjatta and Jean-Claude pose in front of the poster heralding the 2008 exhibition honoring their ceramics that was held at Quimper's Musée départemental breton...
...an exhibition that featured eighty different pieces...highlighting the sculptural talents of Jean-Claude and the colorful palette of Marjatta.
Beginning with Jean-Claude in 1956, they both worked as independent artisans for the HB pottery...an artistic association that continued until 1983 when they opened their own pottery studio. The pieces shown above are from the period of their association with HB; the floral charger is the work of Marjatta and the one with the bull is by Jean-Claude.
The work from their own pottery...called the Atelier du Steir...the same name that had been used until 1963 by Connan and Le Corre...included several of historic importance to the town of Quimper......for example pieces created for Notre-Dame-de-Locmaria church...the church used by the faïencerie workers...a monument that plays an integral part of the life and history of Qumper. (A very long history indeed, as this year, the church celebrates its 1000th anniversary...having been founded back in the year 1022). The Taburets are well represented in the décor within the church...
...of note, the fourteen faïence plaques depicting the stations of the cross...visible affixed to the pillars in this circa 1900 image of the interior of the church.
The plaques were created in 1860 by the HB pottery...painted camaïeu-style in tones of blue that deepen as the series continues...and mounted in unglazed raised-relief frames.
After being subjected to 100 years of wear and tear, neglect and vandalism, the plaques were removed in the 1960s. Efforts to restore them were initiated in collaboration with the benchmark 1990 exhibition tracing the history of Quimper pottery. At that time, an inventory revealed that a number of the plaques had been damaged, plaque number 9 was totally missing and also missing were every single one of the frames.
The Taburets came to the rescue...Marjatta restoring the damaged pieces and recreating the missing plaque and Jean-Claude recreating all the frames with the help of the original mold that had been squirreled away in the attic of the HB pottery.
The Taburets came to the rescue...Marjatta restoring the damaged pieces and recreating the missing plaque and Jean-Claude recreating all the frames with the help of the original mold that had been squirreled away in the attic of the HB pottery.
In this photo, Marjatta stands inside Notre-Dame-de-Locmaria church and over her shoulder is the figure of Saint-Antoine de Padua...the patron saint of faïencerie workers...
...the form was created by Jean-Claude and then decorated by Marjatta and features Saint Antoine holding a pitcher made of...what else?...Quimper faïence !
It's time now to continue with the chronological history of the various firms that provided all this marvelous Quimper pottery since 1708 and we've come to the very last pottery factory to be established in Quimper...FAB...the Faïencerie d'Art Breton.
Regular readers will recall that Paul and Sarah Janssens of Stonington, Connecticut had worked as the official US distributors for Les Faïenceries des Quimper...the combination of the HB and Henriot potteries that was formed in 1968 by Jean-Yves Verlingue. When that firm ended production in 1983, the Janssens suddenly found themselves left without a product to distribute. After putting together a group of American investors, the Janssens made a successful pitch to French authorities and in October of 1984, their firm, the Societé Nouvelle des Faïenceries de Quimper was born.
One of the stipulations agreed upon by the Janssens was that tenured employees of HB-Henriot would be retained, but some years later, when this turned out to not be the case, planning began and in 1994, the result was FAB...the establishment of a new Quimper faïencerie. The faïencerie itself may have been new, but it was based on ( and profited from ) generations of experience...the principals included Pierre and Jean-Claude Breton...owners respectively of The Art de Cornouaille and La Civette...the two stores in Quimper that first sold Quimper pottery in a fixed retail location. That took care of the retail side. The technical and administrative aspects were in the hands of Pierre Henriot and Jean-Yves and Bernard-Jules Verlingue...representing generations of experience as Quimper potters.
FAB...the Faïencerie d'Art Breton...took its name from what prior to World War II had been the official name of the Henriot pottery. This page from the US version of the FAB company catalog shows that primary production was based on traditional motifs...with an occasional modern twist as illustrated by the plates decorated with a breton playing golf. Pieces were still made using traditional processes and hand-painted motifs. But in keeping with the long tradition of providing an opportunity for visiting artists to delve into the world of faïence, FAB quickly became known for its association with independent artists and the creation of art pottery.
Here's a look at some of the spectacular and innovative artist pieces from FAB...
Here's a look at some of the spectacular and innovative artist pieces from FAB...
Among the first to participate were two established Breton artists...Olivier Lapicque and Patrice Cudennec...whose participation immediately added additional credence to the new pottery.
The two plates above are from Lapicque's Les Loups de Mer series presented in 1999...
...Lapicque and FAB also collaborated to produce a limited number of specially-commissioned pieces for a 2004 exhibition at the Oceanopolis museum in Brest...
...another collaboration between Lapicque and FAB resulted in this humorous "tango" figure.
Patrice Cudennec's contributions include...
...this plate celebrating the elaborate traditional Breton costumes...
...and this one capturing a melancholy moment along the Breton shore.
The 1998 exhibition presented at the Musée de la Faîence was dedicated to a Scottish artist, Alexander Goudie. Well-known in Britain for his portraiture, Goudie married a Bretonne and discovered Brittany during family vacations. Like a moth to a flame, he was drawn to FAB and its artistic open-door policies. Some examples from his collaboration with FAB...
Paysan dans un champ de blé...a Breton in a wheat field...just over 20 inch high, the sculpture perfectly captures the essence of this man's relationship with his plot of land...
...and La goémonière...displaying in faïence all the pride that she can muster during the difficult task of gathering seaweed.
These two figures were each issued in a limited edition of one hundred...
In the foyer of the Musée de la Faïence is a large case holding a collection of bits of clay that in the hands of Goudie became a perfect encapsulation of a Breton pardon...
Light reflecting from the windows bounce off the case and its position on the path to the exhibition rooms can sometimes cause it to be overlooked...
...but those who have attended a Breton pardon...
...will recognize the physical...
...and emotional aspects of the experience that emerge from Goudie's little bits of clay.
Each September, beginning in 2012, Quimper hosts a popular fair featuring contemporary ceramists. This event evolved from an earlier annual gathering presented by an organization called une œurvre en faïence....meaning "a work in faïence". The group had joined forces with the Musée de la Faïence and the FAB pottery and each year, a jury selected an example to add to the museum's permanent collection with a limited number of examples made available to the public. Here are a few of the une œurvre en faïence winners...
Les macareaux...the puffins...by Jean Lemonnier won the contest in 2003...
This is the pottery mark on the piece....and a good time to point out the subtle change that was made when the pottery moved to a brand new modern facility in 2003. Pieces made at FAB after January of 2003 have initials as shown above...
...earlier pieces...those created from its beginning in 1994 to the 2003 move, have the initials entwined like the mark shown above...from a 1998 Goudie piece.
In 2004, the honor went to Olivier Lapicque...
...for a raised-relief bistro scene entitled Nostalgie.
Le Marin...the sailor...by Loïc Hervé won in 2005...
...the mark notes that this particular piece is number 38 of 100.
The top prize in 2006...
...was awarded to Daphné Pauwels for Metamorphose.
Zhen-Da-Wang, an artist who entered the contest while a student at a fine arts school in Pekin, China...
...won the event in 2007 with tête rouge, a ceramic sculpture depicting a chubby infant observing the world through eyes not fully opened. He had learned of the contest from an informational poster that the organization sent to the school.
In July of 2011, the FAB pottery was purchased by Jean-Pierre le Goff...the same Jean-Pierre le Goff who had purchased the HB-Henriot pottery the day before. Now part of the current Henriot-Quimper firm, faïence is still produced in the building...but 2011 ended the FAB venture.
Before I close, a reminder that the Musée de la Faïence is now open for the season with a revamped display of pieces from the permanent exhibition and a spectacular opportunity to enjoy the artistry that was the result of the collaboration between the Porquier pottery and the artist Alfred Beau. Here's just a peek of what awaits you...
The exhibition centers around 10 albums of watercolors depicting Alfred Beau designs that were intended to be recreated on faïence by the Porquier artists. Hundreds and hundreds of intricate motifs...
...that led to the gorgeous results that bring us such joy.
The exhibition is loaded with breathtaking pieces with the added bonus of seeing the original design !
It's all there...yellow-rimmed botanicals, animated scènes bretonnes and fanciful legends...and will be there for you to enjoy until October 1, 2022 ! Open every day except Sunday...10am to 6pm without an interruption.
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...with a double issue for July/August. 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 !