Vintage Quimper Style Plate in Blue and Yellow with Hand Painted Breton Couple

A vintage Quimper style faience plate in blue and yellow, hand painted with a Breton couple in traditional dress, with a sponged blue rim and a yellow lobed line.

The pair stand arm in arm on a little green mound, she in her white coiffe, pink sleeves, yellow apron and full blue skirt, he in a black ribboned hat, navy jacket and yellow breeches, both in brown sabots. Feathery green fronds tipped with pink and blue buds rise on either side, painted with the quick, confident strokes that give this style of French pottery its charm.

Couples like these have been the signature of Quimper faience since the late 1800s, when the Breton potteries began painting the people of the region in their Sunday best, and the look has been loved and copied all over Brittany ever since. This plate carries no maker's mark, so we call it Quimper style, but the painting is lively and full of character. The colours are bright, and the sponged rim and gently lobed yellow border make a pretty frame for the couple.

It measures 19.5cm in diameter and 2cm in height, so it is light and easy to hang.

Hang it on a kitchen wall with a plate hanger, on its own or as part of a cluster of blue and white plates, or prop it on a dresser shelf among jugs and bowls. It would sit beautifully alongside our Quimper style scalloped bowl, and makes a cheerful present for anyone who loves France, Brittany or folk pottery.