From Paris, With Love

My family isn't the stereotypical American one when it comes to our own history. You know, the kinds that have a large, extended family, have family reunions, albums upon albums of photographs that span at the very least three generations (not to mention some pretty embarrassing home videos that get brought out at the most awkward moments, such as when you introduce your boyfriend for the first time. THAT I'm glad I missed out on).

My family is actually really bad at those things. We don't put photographs in albums (but we do take as many, if not more, as the average family) but instead keep them "organized" in various bags and boxes, no order of any kind. No big family reunions of any kind, not even on major holidays. I never thought about it while growing up, but now I find myself wishing things had been a little different. At least in some ways. I really don't know too much about my family's history and recently that's become a far more obvious empty file in the cabinet of my mind.

I don't know much about my maternal grandmother, who tragically died of lung cancer right before my birth, and I know even less about my maternal great grandmother. So what, you ask? Well ladies (and any gentlemen who can relate), how would you feel if while cleaning out your family's country house you stumbled across something that looks like this:

 

Limoges Cake Stand

Stuffed in a random box, wrapped in newsprint so ancient its practically fossilized, was my great grandmother's limoges cake stand. In the above photo, if you look really closely you can see the crack where the neck had broken in two. Can you believe my mother thought about getting rid of it?! She had a valid point - its a wee bit gaudy - but its beautiful!

View of top, with seal visible.

As you can see, I have clearly taken my banner image from this piece of porcelain perfection. Can you blame me? My mom told me that this was part of a larger collection that her grandmother had, and it would appear to be a custom order since her personal seal is all over this cake stand.

Another seal, on the neck.

I didn't care that we found it in two pieces, I had to keep this for so many reasons. First of all, I had no idea we had this so to find it and then THROW IT AWAY seemed like a fate worse than death. Secondly, I still don't know jack about my great grandmother, but from the looks of it she and I are pretty gosh darn similar. And thirdly, after some super glue magic (and discovering how to un-stick one's fingers with oil) presto! Free cake stand!

Bottom, with two marks.

After some brief research, I discovered that it was manufactured by William Guerin & Co., and according to the green porcelain mark and blue decorating mark its from 1891-1932. "Limoges porcelain" is a generic term that refers to the porcelain produced in Limoges. William Guerin (1838-1912) was born near Limoges and was trained in porcelain techniques. After military service, he rented a porcelain decorating workshop in the Faubourg Montjovis (Limoges) in 1836, doing export.

About 1872 Guerin took over the porcelain workshop of Lebron & Cie. Then in 1877 he bought the porcelain factory that had been established by Jouhanneaud and Dubois in Rue du Petit-Tour (Limoges), and which had been bought in 1867 by the Utzschneider Company of Saurregemines and run by Leopold Dubois. This enlarged company produced a wide range of wares, selling a lot of whiteware and also continuing decoration.

Guerin's sons William and Andre joined the company in 1903. In 1911 W. Guerin & Cie merged with the nearby Pouyat factory, buying 3/4 of Pouyat; the new firm became Guerin & Cie. Possibly both company marks were continued. WWI greatly decreased output. In 1920/21 Bawo & Dotter Ltd., also owner of Elite name, bought Guerin & Cie and became Guerin Pouyat Elite, with Carl Bawo as technical director from 1923. The marks of all 3 firms continued to be used. The factory closed in 1932 and was demolished in 1933.

So, not only do I have have HAVE to learn more about my great grandmother, but I also have have HAVE to find anything else of hers that could possibly be lying around our house, packed away in a box or stuffed in a bag or whatever. I can guarantee, there will be many more stories as I attempt to unravel the threads of the past. *cue spooky music*

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