Living With Thanksgiving: Quimper pottery

You are in for a treat today touring my neighbors kitchen. She collects Quimper Pottery and this is just one set of shelves.

Her azalea standards were so pretty I wanted to share them too.

Meet my neighbor, Sally.

Sally designed her kitchen when she built her house with her Quimper collection in mind.

Quimper pottery is all hand painted pottery made by artisans in Quimper, France. Each piece is therefore unique.

Sally's collection began when a Secret Santa partner gave her a reproduction Quimper plate around 1990.

Some interesting facts about Quimper : The pronunciation of Quimper is kem-pair or kam-pair.

Quimper pottery has a long history. Tin glazed, hand painted pottery has been made in Quimper, France, since the late seventeenth century. Most of the early pieces are unmarked. The earliest firm, founded in 1685 by Jean Baptiste Bousquet, was known as HB Quimper. Another firm, founded in 1772 by Francois Eloury, was known as Porquier. The third firm, founded by Guillaume Dumaine in 1778, was known as HR or Henriot Quimper. All three firms made similar pottery decorated with designs of Breton peasants and sea and flower motifs. The Eloury( Porquier) and Dumaine (Henriot) firms merged in 1913. Bousquet(HB) merged with the others in 1968. The group was sold to a United States family in 1984. More changes followed, and in 2011 Jean-Pierre Le Goff became the owner and the name was changed to Henriot-Quimper. The French firm has been called Societe Nouvelle des Faienceries de Quimper HB Henriot since March 1984. Pottery was made in Quipmer when the city was part of the Roman Empire, long before-tin-glazed pottery was being made. Source - Kovels.com

I am not an authority on Quimper and the more I study the more I find there is to learn. I googled history of Quimper pottery and I found a lengthy NY times article written in 1986 that explained the details of the sale of the french company to an american couple from Stonington, Connecticut. It's history is quite complicated and I do not know it's current status. Feel free to jump in and share any knowledge you have.

This book of Sally's about Quimper Pottery was helpful in this post.

My main focus in this post is to share Sally's collection but I thought you might be interested in a a little history about the factories.

This french faience oyster plate on the shelf is one of Sally's favorites.

The Quimper salt and peppers have so much personality I think. Sally pointed out that the candlesticks were not Quimper but that did not matter to her nor does it to me. I like their shape and design and they compliment her collection of Quimper.

The clay dolls with fabric clothing on the shelf are called " santons" which means "little saints." They are from the Provence region bought in Aix and were gifts from a relative. The french doctor was appropriate since Sally's husband is a doctor. Sally feels the clay dolls add to the feel of the Quimper.

The portrait busts add interest and color to her collection.

Biniou means bagpipe in the Breton language. The man appears to be playing a bombarde and the lady the bagpipes.

I can see why collecting would be fun and addictive can't you?

Porrigers or lug bowls are some of the first pieces Sally bought. She was told they were painted in the 1800's.

Faience egg cup bottom

Pair of egg cups

Covered cheese dish

Alder wood with the look of pine was chosen for the kitchen cabinets so it would highlight the Quimper.
Notice the inkwell on the top shelf which really deserved a close up picture.

This piece is part of a pair of old Quimper salt and pepper shakers bought in Maine.

Japanese Majolica are favorite companions to Sally's Quimper.

The lovely Quimper Ste. Anne statue was purchased in Mont-Saint- Michel. The figure on the right is also Quimper and was bought in an antique shop in Paris.

I love the detailing on these teapots. So awesome each piece is hand painted!

A favorite piece of Sally's is this quintal, or five fingered vase, banded in the middle with the interesting ziz zag pattern. She likes the unusual color of the vase and the man's costume are also not the usual colors.

Lovely fish plates with Breton man and Bretonne with intricate detailing.

Plates were bought in Mont- Saint-Michel in the early 2000's.

The Breton man on this basket is playing a bombarde which is a woodwind instrument used to play traditional Breton music.

This is HB Quimper.

Japanese majolica salt and pepper shakers mix well with the french tiles.

Sally handpicked all the tiles from a tile store's cache for her kitchen long before items were available on the internet. They are hand painted but not Quimper. The salt container is also a reproduction.

Sally mixes cobalt bottles and polish pottery well with her Quimper pieces.

The powder room off the kitchen is decorated in traditional french country yellow and blue wallpaper with Quimper pottery and accessories.

Even a new waste basket with the french bretons was ordered from the Quimper store in the U.S.
I am fascinated with the old french costumes. The colorful puffy pants worn by the men are called bragoubraz and the ladies wear high starched coiffes or headdresses. I found this information and some of the other terms used in this post in the book, Quimper Pottery by Ann Marie O'Neil.

Have you enjoyed Sally's kitchen tour? Do you know anyone who collects Quimper pottery? I know two blogger friends, Sarah @Hyacinths for the Soul and Emily @The French Hutch that are collectors. I am amazed at how much there is to learn about this art and collecting.

Have a wonderful week.