J'Adore Quimper

by Randall Decoteau

This is the story about a mother and daughter; it’s about the love of Brittany, and the love of its popular Quimper ceramics.

Judy Datesman searches a French flea market with her mother Joan for examples of Quimper pottery.

This artist palette wall pocket is typical of the surprises that can be found in Quimper, Henriot factory, c.1930, 7 1/ 2” x 9”.	Eiffel Tower wall plaque, an incredibly rare item by Pourquier Beau, c.1890, 115Ê8” x 8”.

This fish vase is beautifully painted and is the type of item sought by advanced collectors, Henriot, c.1930, 13” x 6”.

The town of Quimper (pronounced “kam-pair)” is a major city in Brittany, with a population of about 60,000 people. It’s certainly not a little village. Over the course of three hundred years, there have always been two or three ceramics factories here. Some have merged or disappeared. Others have grown and prospered. It’s an interesting process to monitor and it’s still going on. The factory everybody knows, the HB Henriot factory, has just been sold again.

Discovering Quimper
“I’ve always been fascinated by pottery; it has a hands-on quality that I like,” mused Joan Datesman. “J’adore Quimper; I bought my first plate at a flea market 35 years ago.” She almost seems unaware that she is using both English and French in the same sentence. She decided to visit the town of Quimper in the mid-‘70s on a buying trip and returned frequently, renting a house there for the summer of 1985 while working on her book.
Her daughter, Judy, who accompanied her, tells that it quickly became a yearly trip, and eventually stretched to two or three times a year. Judy was Dean of Students for a private boarding school in Chicago. She loved being in education and working with adolescents, but in 1992 she took a six-month sabbatical to see if she could make a life in Brittany. She moved there in 1994, running a shop that specialized in Breton table linens and new Quimper pottery. “What I love about living here is the quality of life,” she boasts. “This area depends on tourism, agriculture, and fishing, so the weather, the land, and the sea are of primary importance and figure in most conversation.” She comments that this is a part of France where the old traditions are the most carefully preserved. There are still old women who continue do their marketing wearing traditional costumes and headdresses, and Druids perform age-old ceremonies in the mountains and forests, as did their Celtic ancestors. There is a legend that the ancient circle of stones at nearby Carnac goes to the sea to drink on each Christmas Eve.
Judy Datesman is the president of The Quimper Club International, which can be found at www.quimperclub.org. Both she and her mother appreciate that the older pieces serve as a record of a way of life from another era. Quimper pottery also represents an understanding by the French of the value of an artistic tradition. Color and design were used to produce lively and vibrant works that strongly contrasted with the hard life of the times.

Intrinsic quality
Joan adds that what the French call ‘pieces de form’ or three dimensional items, are the most popular in today’s market. These are generally the most highly prized and sell the best. Her philosophy about what she wants to offer her clients is that she always prefers to have an aesthetic judgment operating. “I want my merchandise to be unusual and to have intrinsic quality,” she comments. “I don’t want too ornate, or too elaborate – I want to satisfy my aesthetic judgment first.” She is often less of a merchant and more of a connoisseur!
She caresses a wall plaque featuring the Eiffel Tower and suggests that you could think of it as ultimate kitsch, but in Joan’s judgment, it is a wonderful piece. She loves the charm, the humor, the color, and the surprises. “It’s very happy stuff to live with!”
Brittany Byways is the venue that Judy uses to sell her pottery (www.brittanybyways.com). The site has probably the most complete description of the various Quimper patterns to be found anywhere, either on the web or in print, and it doesn’t even have all the items that she carries. All the contemporary things are made to order and the possibilities are endless. She works with each client to create something special. There are many examples of classic Quimper as well. She sells Breton linens (embroidered and printed) as well as Provençal fabrics, books, and other faïences items. The site can be viewed in either French or English. “Selling on the Internet is wonderful and I am very service-oriented,” she comments. “It’s a great way to have a personal relationship with people in relatively short order!” She sometimes finds shipping a bit of a headache, but enjoys not having to deal with a shop and staff.

Infinite variety
It can be confusing to follow the lineage of factories working in Quimper, but the three major ones from the past are Porquier, Henriot, and HB (de la Hubaudiere). Today, there are actually five factories in Quimper: HB-Henriot (merged in 1968), Fouillen, Faiencerie d’Art Breton, Ceramique de Cornouaille, and Faiencerie Croquet. One of the most exciting things about old Quimper pottery is that there are many one-of-a-kind examples and you never know what you might find. Painters were given regular time to create, and sometimes their original designs were fired, so pieces turn up regularly that nobody has ever seen!
Sources of merchandise can range from the French flea markets to shows and auctions. In the early days of her business, Joan shopped the major spring and fall antiques shows in France, but as time passed, the buying became less wonderful. Today, she prefers auctions. However, when in Paris, she mostly relies on a network of dealers and professionals she has known for a long time. She marvels at how the market has changed, but rarely passes up an opportunity to shop with her daughter at local flea markets.
Both Judy and Joan love the lives they lead as dealers in Quimper. Asked how long Joan thinks she might continue, “Indefinitely! It’s a life full of interesting people, fascinating places to go, and the learning experience is endless.” She asserts, “C’est moi! I’m never going to retire. It’s too damned much fun!”