Welcome to our website which not only specialises in French Faience, but also in European and British Art and Studio Pottery.

Our collection of French Faience currently focuses on Quimper, Desvres, Malicorne, CA, Faience de l'Est and Faience Fine, but we also stock items from many other French Faienceries.



The European Art Pottery that we present is almost completely French and includes: Denbac, Greber, Pierrefonds, Metenier, Les Yvelines and Rambervillers.




The English Art Pottery collection is mainly drawn from the smaller regional potteries in the South and South-West of England.




Our English Studio Pottery contains the work of those 20th.Century English potters who are principally based in the South and South-West.



STOP PRESS
Please note that we have recently made significant reductions in most of our prices in the light of the current recession.





Please contact us for further information about these or other potteries not at present represented on our website. Whilst we are very happy to offer an opinion on identification of pottery items, we regret we do not give valuations.










STRUCTURE OF THIS WEBSITE





This website has 5 main sections as listed at the top left-hand corner of this first section, which can be accessed by clicking on the relevant section name.





This First Section HOME gives general information about us, our website and the way we operate.

At the end of the section we include some NOTES ON POTTERY that deal with particlar types or aspects of Pottery.

From time to time we will also include a short mixed selection of ITEMS FOR SALE in the range £5GBP to £15GBP.






The Home Section is followed by four sections dealing with particular types of pottery. At present these are:


Section Two, FRENCH FAIENCE, which deals with tin-glazed earthenware from French Faienceries other than those in the third section.


Section Three covers QUIMPER, MALICORNE AND DESVRES.


Section Four deals with BRITISH ART AND STUDIO POTTERY.


Section FIVE completes the collection covering EUROPEAN ART AND STUDIO POTTERY.






Sections Two to Five each present 20 items from our large collection, which are refreshed regularly. If you do not see what you are looking for on the pages of this website please email us to check whether we do have such items in our stock.

WEBSITE IMAGES

The following pages show a small sample of our extensive stock.
CLICK on the IMAGES to obtain an enlarged second view of each item.

These can be further enlarged by using the + button.



Try this on the pictures of an 18thC. Nevers Cornucopia Plate (S138) above, an impressive large Torquay Pottery Co. Toby Jug (P339) below, and on our Ardingly Stall displays pictured elsewhere on these Home pages.

PRICES, PAYMENT & POSTAGE

PRICES

In the catalogue that follows, the quoted prices, which have recently been significantly reduced, are our 'best' or 'trade' prices in GB Pounds. We are not willing to sell below these prices, so please do not make lower offers. In the case of multiple purchases, however, we are always willing to give a small discount.


PAYMENT

For International buyers we accept payment in GB Pounds by PayPal (but not by credit card) at no additional cost.

We also accept International Money Orders in Sterling and Sterling cheques,

It is regretted that non-sterling cheques can not be accepted, because of excessive bank charges.

For UK buyers payment can be either by UK cheque or by PayPal, although cheques are preferred.


POSTAGE

All items will be sent securely packed and insulated, where necessary double-boxed. International items will be sent by International Signed For First Class Air Mail unless otherwise requested. UK items will be sent by First Class Recorded Mail unless otherwise requested. Shipping charges will be supplied once the items and the destination are identified.

EBAY SALES

We regularly have items for sale on eBay, and have recently had a number of pieces on eBay for sale by on-line auction, mainly of Upchurch English Art Pottery. We shall be auctioning some more Upchurch items later in the year, when you will be able to click on the icon below to view them. ALL ITEMS ARE SOLD WITHOUT RESERVE.

ANTIQUES & COLLECTORS FAIRS

In recent years we have stalled several times each year at the Ardingly Antiques & Collectors Fair on the Sussex County Showground, and occasionally at other Antiques Fairs mainly in the South of England. We shall not be stalling at any Fairs in April or May 2009 and we do not intend to stall out again on a regular basis at Ardingly, preferring instead to exhibit at other smaller Fairs in the South-East. Our programme of Fairs will be regularly updated on this website.










We shall continue to sell from our website, which will be regularly updated.








DO COME AND VISIT US AT ONE OF OUR FAIRS IN 2009 !

NOTES ON POTTERY: Malicorne French Faience

Faience has been produced in Malicorne (Sarthe) since 1745, but the most well known and recognisable pieces are from faienceries operating in the period 1880-1980. This sauciere (K293) is typical of the production from the Pouplard Faiencerie, which successfully 'copied' the Breton motifs on Quimper pottery.

By adopting a similiar backstamp, an inverted 'P' with a connecting bar to the 'B', they became involved in a litiginous dispute with the Quimper Porquier faiencerie, whose production was exceptional for its draughtmanship and elegance and as such, remains highly valued today. In resolution of this dispute, Pouplard was required to scrape off ('gratter') its backstamp.

Dating from 1895-1900, the decoration of the sauceboat has none of the Quimper finesse, but it has a freshness and delicacy of colour, and a treatment of floral subjects which evokes other French faienceries. The tin glaze is crazed, a Malicorne characteristic, revealing a coarse red earthenware body.

This large oval dish (S132) shows the Pouplard adaptation of the Breton style: a similiar Bretonne, but differently drawn and with the plate border decorated with a garland of flowers, a motif which became a trademark design of Pouplard Beatrix, dating from the early years of the 20C. Leon Pouplard directed this faiencerie from 1888 until 1952, and some of the other faienciers in Malicorne began their careers with him.

The picture shows the back of the same dish with the PBx Mark.

Other shapes, in the manner of Quimper, with the depiction of Breton figures, included wall pockets, such as this matching pair(N320). Again the drawn forms have more individuality than the traditional Quimper designs, and more emphasis on detail. On these wall pockets the male figure has beribboned socks which echo his leafy switch, whilst the female figure has detailed knitting, and concentration emphasised in her heavy stance.

These figures are not as beautifully drawn as those from the Porquier Beau Faiencerie, but they are less stylised than the designs from the HB and Henriot productions, which were well established in Quimper at this time.

The reverse of the pair of wall pockets bears the PBx mark.

The Pouplard designs at Malicorne were also inspired by the faienceries at Desvres, as shown in this Malicorne octagonal fine-pointed armorial dish (M 131), which has a Breton motto and an adapted 'Rouen Decor' border.

The traditional design features of other French regional faienceries were also incorporated in Malicorne decorations, including those of Nevers in the centre, and of Moustiers and Marseilles in the south. This small Malicorne plate(P004) carries a design in the manner of Nevers.

Other faienceries at Malicorne in the early 20thC. included that of Leroy-Dubois, which had a prolific production from 1900 to 1918, including the double wall pocket (Q012) illustrated. Again, many of the designs were derived from decorative themes then at Quimper, some of which were sourced from drawings of regional subjects and costumes in the collection 'Galerie Armoriciane'.

The drawn subjects on Leroy-Dubois faience often have a wispy, unreal quality, and a capacity to amuse, as on this unusual L-D 'Birds' plate (T050). Such subjects are in a tradition common to pieces from the Nevers area of central France.

The most prolific Malicorne production of the 20thC. came from the Emile Tessier Faiencerie, which existed from 1926-71, and which has successors currently working. Typical of this production are puzzle jugs, or 'pichets a secret'

Malicorne Tessier pieces are not always marked, but are characterised by a smooth, opaque glaze, and careful decoration, using traditional French Faience motifs, such as the manganese rose of the South-West, the pink flowers of the East and the 'grotesques' of the South. This Tessier floral pichet (P057) incorporates the manganese rose and bears the Tessier mark 'TE'.

All of the pieces illustrated above in these Notes on Malicorne are in our own collection, and most of these are for sale, on application to us. Additionally a number of other Malicorne pieces are illustrated for sale on our website pages that follow.

There are many other aspects of the 19th. and 20thC. production at Malicorne to which it has not been possible to make reference, such as the large figures of Saints and the Virgin and Child from the 19thC., and the delicate pierced baskets, often with stylised fruit, from the 20thC.
There were also a series of committed and talented artists working at Malicorne in the 1920's and 1930's, such as Valentin Villarme and Roger Francois. Details of their work can be found in 'Les Faiences de Malicorne' - a very informative book.
Sources: Tardy 'Poteries et Faienceries Francaises'
Stephane Deschang & Gilles Kervella 'Les Faiences de Malicorne'