Today's purchases

A set of 8 French Old Paris porcelain Napoleon lll period dessert plates, hand painted with fruit and flowers with gold gilt and platinum trim borders decorated by Victor Etienne & Fils of Paris, France, Circa 1850-1870. 

Over the past week I have bought some wonderful 18th & 19th century Old Paris porcelain from ebay, to add to my ever growing collection. Including in these purchases are a fabulous set of Napoleon lll period circa 1850-1870 fancy dessert bowls, each hand painted with fruit and flowers! The burgundy trimmed borders have gold gilt and platinum trim. Each bowl is signed on the back in iron red for the decorating firm of Frenchman Victor Etienne.


The porcelain plates were made in Limoges France.  After 1830 because of pollution The king of the French Louis Philippe band the manufactory of porcelain in the city of Paris. It had to be made outside of the city. After this period most porcelain was made in Limoges, France and painted/decorated in Paris. Like these beautiful bowls. I can't wait to get them and used them at my next dinner or lunch!

The address of this Paris decorating firm is 29 Rue de Paradis. The street is located in the west of 10th arrondissement of Paris ( district of Porte-Saint-Denis ), between the 95 of the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis and the 64 of the Rue du Faubourg Poissonnière. In 1710 the area was called The Paradise formerly Les Prés of God Daughters was even the site of a garden belonging to the religious community of the Filles-Dieu .

in the 19th century this fashionable Street of Paradis was "the" street of the crystal and china and other earthenware due to the proximity of the Paris-Est station that allowed the transport of materials from the Lorraine particular.

About 1831 Baccarat , the Company of Saint Louis Crystal and two other glass, Choisy-le-Roi and Bercy, moved to this fashionable Parisian street, "Barbier, Launay et Cie" then "Launay Hautin and Co.", located at n o  30 or 30a or 32 of the rue de Paradis-Poissonnière, current street Paradis, distribution of their products.

1850, Baccarat and the Company of Saint Louis Crystal resume only local, which it remains today only the street facade, dated 1832.

The Company of Saint Louis Crystal Place is a deposit 3 as the Baccarat house that also installs a bronze workshop there.

Baccarat house there were 246 employees in 189 .

This building later became the Baccarat museum until 2003 and will host a time the Pinacoteca of Paris from 2003.

According to the historical landmark affixed by the city of Paris was in the xix th  century on the site a post house for "diligence in eastern France."

Each plate has different hand painted Trompe l'oeil fruits & flowers. A nice antique design rolls around the rim. Then there's a gold & platinum border on the edge. All hand painted.

The quality of the handpainted Trompe l'oeil fruit is amazing 

The decorator's mark of Victor Etienne & Fils

Window shopping in Paris

Wonderful antique jewelry in a Paris window.  

The expression for "window-shopping" in French is faire du lèche-vitrines (literally, "window-licking"). By far Paris, France has some of the most beautiful window displays in all of the world. I love walking around Paris different districts, window shopping, especially for antiques.  The photo's of antique jewelry was talking across the street from my favorate Paris Roman Catholic church Saint-Sulpice, in the Luxembourg Quarter of the 6th arrondissement. 

Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris

Feeding swans in the French Village of Creil

Feeding swans on the Oise River in the village of Creil. 

Last Summer I spent a week in the French Village of Creil. Only 46 km from Paris. Creil was not my main destination. It was a place I used as a base. I wanted to sight see around the area of the Picardy region. In the 18th and 19th century Creil was known for faience. A few months before traveling to France and visiting the village of Creil, I bought a pair of early 19th century period Empire Creil faience plates in a New Orleans thrift store. Not knowing about modern Creil I thought it was a lovely French village of wonderful antique faience. Little did I know it is one of the worse villages in France for crime. I rented a house across the street from the train station and upon my arrival and leaving the train station I felt like I was in the Bronx circa 1980! I had never seen some many people standing around in France that appeared to be up to no good. 

Creil will never win a beautiful village of France award.  During World War II, from 1943, the city suffered heavy bombing destroying much of the historic buildings in the city.  Creil served both air base for Luftwaffe (air base on the current) and key rail hub, and is near the quarries of Saint-Maximin and Saint Leu-d'Esserent that are the basis for V1 of the German army. A great deal of the city was built after World War II in cold architecture. As a Leo I always look for beauty where no one sees it.  The beauty I saw in Creil was the beautiful swans and baby cygnets. Every morning on the walk to get my croissant I would feed this family of swans on the Oise River.

  

You can see the City Hall, on the island of St. Mauritius: Built near the site of the ruins of the old castle and collegiate Two Cities, it was inaugurated on 7 June 1903

Two Grisaille faience plates I bought in New Orleans were made by the Creil factory with transferware by Stone, Coquerel and Legros d'Anisy in Paris during the French Empire period.