Faience Soupier... French Ceramic Elegance!

As you may know, we have recently been on a treasure hunt through North-Eastern France in the region of Lorraine famous for it's high quality Faïence pottery. It was one of... ahhh who am I kidding... it was the MOST productive antique buying spree we have been on so far! The main reason for that is this incredibly beautiful, refined and elegant 19th century Soupiere (Soup holder) that had adorned an old French woman's home for generations until her death. It is believed that it dates from the 2nd half of the 1800s probably between 1860 - 1880 and is probably the most refined hand painted piece of Faience I have ever seen with scenes depicting hunting, flowers, birds, deer & other forest animals.
When buying Faience or Faenza as we call it here in Italy, or any other ceramic antiques for that matter, of course the value is always partially in the signature. This piece is signed by the artist himself being a simple F.B. brushed onto the bottom of the base dish. Our research as pointed that this F.B. was not a prolific Faience artist and as such his pieces are very rare (Tip: Search Google before buying anything antique!)

Anyway, enough from me... let's just enjoy some truly breathtaking hand painted French Faience...

c 1860 - 1880

Scene depicting forest animals & flora motifs as seen from lid

Base dish from above highlighting the incredible detail

Artists Signature "La Faiencerie, Peint à la main R.B."
which translates as, "The Faiencerie, painted by hand F.B."
Usually when an artist writes "La Faiencerie, it would usually
indicate the factory name where he worked.

Cherub wood carving

I'd like to showcase one of my favorite little treasures I found at a flea market in France or Brocantes for those French speakers of you out there.
It's a little hand carved wood Cherub playing a little harp. Perfect item for a rustic little cottage or even a Victorian Colonial property. It's for sale in our shop at a great price... I'll be sad to see it go!

New French & English Vintage Antiques in our NEW SHOP!

Currently my family and I are at our holiday home in France. And as you do in France, we like to spend our time walking the many "Brocantes" or second hand markets that spring up in the rustic villages around the province of Les Vosges.
This year has turned up quite a few interesting little treasures of which all can be bought in our NEW ETSY SHOP. We had a focus on selecting some little easyily posted items that are also not so fragile. What we found was quite a mixed bag with some fantastic surprises that we couldn't pass up!

For example take this gold painted Victorian period decòr (circa 1890) of a Cherub playing:
(Click the images below to visit the shop and see prices or to purchase)

c.1890 Gold painted wood with velvet background

Cherub playing harp

And staying on the Cherub theme we found this rather cute little decoration:

Circa 1890 - 1910 Cherub wood carving

Hand carved, French decorative house piece

In the same market we found this early 20th century perfume bottle in-cased in a decorated metal frame:

Metal in-cased blue perfume bottle (c.1920 - 1930)

French, highly collectible

Image showing relative size

 Another little surprise were these (x2) 20th century decorative, baby warming plates. They keep the food warm by adding hot water to the dish:

Early 20th century (c1920 - 1935), French made.
Scene shows a cute bunny rabbit eating carrot.
Off-set by a beautiful gold gilt with matching rabbit water stopper

Another cute rabbit scene from a later period (French c1950s)
Please note this ceramic dish, although very cute &
highly collectible, does not have a matching stopper

Strangely for being in a remote part of France we also came across this rather beautifully English transferware coffee pot:

English transferware
Early 20th century (c1910-1920)

Staying in the English theme, how about this highly decorative metal tea caddy probably dating from the 1950s:

English made Tea Caddy in tin

Or for those ceramic lovers, how about this blue and white water jug probably dating from the early 19th century during the Edwardian period (circa 1920):

Blue & white ceramic water or milk pitcher (c1920)

And lastly, the greatest treasure of them all... a hand painted ceramic Faience Soupiere (Soup holder) dating from the mid 19th century (circa 1870) signed by R.B. and in total perfect condition as it had been in the same family in a  cottage in Northern France, passed down as a treasured heirloom through the generations.

Hand painted French Faience soupiere (soup holder)
dating from the late 19th century (1870 -1890)
In perfect condition with no chips or scrapes