Valentina Expressions

Traveling to me is exploring the local history and famous landmarks, also pushing myself through unconventional paths to learn about the regional culture, find unusual things, places of certain interest, taste local food I usually don’t eat and meet people. In the Loire Valley in France, I visited the Gien store, a 200 years old factory of Faience earthenware, they produce “art for the table”. The name Faience is the conventional name in English for fine tin-glazed pottery on a buff earthenware body, a term also used to describe French, German, Spanish, Portuguese earthenwares. Faience technique is nothing new in the world of ceramic tableware, its origin goes back to the ancient Egyptian civilization. The Italian early form of tin-glazed earthenware was called Maiolica and the name Faenza derived from the town Faenza in the Romagna region near Ravenna. There in Faenza a majolica ware was painted on a clean, opaque pure-white ground and produced for export as early as the fifteenth century. Delftware is the equivalent Dutch for Faience earthenware.
(Click on each photo to view it larger).

Gien Store

The Frech Gien company has served various aristocratic, nobles and upper bourgeois family of Europe personalizing their tableware with the family monograms or family coat-of-arms. During the years, the company has immortalized history of France with effigies on plates representing major monuments.

Gien – History of France

Gien created tableware reflecting the ’60s and ’70s years of colors and vibrant designs for a younger generation. From their archives, Gien has revived the florals and orientalism designs to create the set called “Dépareilées”, the mismatched items for a modern table setting.

Gien – Dépareilées Collection

Gien – Pont Aux Choux Collection

The iconic Pont Aux Choux Collection exists since 1821. It is chiseled to emulate small grain pattern, which design has passed the taste of time and seems to have connected many generations.

Gien – Floral

Gien – Horse

The plates with horses design remind me of some plates designed with mythology characters I saw in Greece. They are beautiful.

Gien Tableware

With the holidays approaching, this might be a good idea to revamp the old table setting, and making it a little more “French” chic.

Ciao,
Valentina
http://www.valentinadesigns.com 

Copyright © 2019 Valentina Cirasola, All Rights Reserved

Valentina Cirasola transforms and creates spaces realizing people’s dreams in homes, offices, interiors, and exteriors. She infuses your everyday living with a certain luxury without taking away a comfortable living. Valentina is well-known for bringing originality on any project and for thinking outside the box. Her interiors are not made with cookie cutters, only follow client’s inspiration, lifestyle, and personality. She offers online design consultations through Skype or Zoom and the traditional in-house consultations, helping people with their design challenge anywhere in the world. She is the author of five books. The latest newly published book is ©The Road To Top Of The World and ©Naked Lemons – All books are available on
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