Limoges Porcelain Painting

On our last morning in Rennes, Monique took my mom and I to see an exhibit of the traditional art of porcelain painting that featured works done by her and her friends. They call themselves "Les Atelliers du Chardon." From what I could tell, painting china is quite popular in France and there are a lot of places that sell plain Limoges china that you can take home and paint (sort of like the ceramic painting places we have in North America, except the work these people produce is much, much finer).

The artwork was extremely high quality. I was particularly impressed by the fine detailing that the artists had used on the porcelain. I didn't get to see their brushes, but they must have been incredibly tiny!

This is Anne Pichon, who organized the exhibit, with one of her pieces. The detail on the ducks is just amazing! It would make a great lamp for someone's study. It's a little masculine for my taste, but the artwork was just lovely. It reminded me of 19th century nature drawings. Anne took her inspiration from the ducks in her garden pond.



This gardenia blossom platter was one of my favourite pieces. The design was so modern and elegant.



Here's a set of hand painted kitchen tiles, also painted by Anne.



Here we are, discussing the importance of handcrafts in Anne's garden!



I was so impressed with the work that these ladies were doing. They are so passionate about art and about taking part in the creation of art objects for their own homes. None of the pieces of art in the exhibit were for sale, although Anne does do commissions. The ladies really just enjoyed designing beautiful one of a kind china for their own homes, which I thought was really neat.

I actually bought a number of unpainted pieces of Limoges porcelain while I was in Rennes (it's actually very inexpensive if you buy the china straight from the factories). It's so beautiful that it doesn't really need to be painted, but now I want to learn!