Wednesday, 1 January 2014

Gifts from France

Jane has "returned to base" now, after spending some time over in France, helping with Fiona and Juan's new baby. She brought with her loads of presents sent by the lovely couple, including a very special bottle of wine, but I most particularly want to show you these:


These beautiful little (13 x 10cm) ceramic dishes are I think officially butter-dishes, but I'm sure they will be put to use in our household as general-purpose "nibble dishes". I can just picture them holding some home-grown radishes...

They are manufactured by a firm called Gien, which specialises in the type of ceramic ware called "Faience".


A bit of googling reveals this:  Faience is a fine, porous earthenware which is tin-glazed and then fired repeatedly. The sophisticated refinement of the resulting faience is what distinguishes it from other kinds of ceramic. The Faience de Gien factory was founded in 1821 by Thomas Hall, an Englishman who wanted to introduce fine English earthenware manufacturing techniques in France.


Well, those dishes are beautiful by any measure - and the designs are so entirely appropriate for me. Thank you, Fiona and Juan!
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9 comments:

  1. Lea1 January 2014 at 10:25

    Very nice!
    Happy New Year!
    May you and Jane be richly blessed in this new year!
    Lea

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sue Garrett1 January 2014 at 10:51

    Lovely gift and one well chosen for you.

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  3. Daphne Gould1 January 2014 at 12:18

    Lovely dishes. Happy New Year.

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  4. Claire Toplis1 January 2014 at 16:13

    I do like those

    ReplyDelete
  5. Egretta Wells blog1 January 2014 at 16:40

    What beautiful dishes, Mark, and so appropriate for you. I am a bit jealous! Best wishes for a very Happy New Year to you and Jane! Egretta

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  6. Shaheen1 January 2014 at 17:11

    Very pretty Mark. I like them :)
    Warmest of wishes to you and your lovely Jane for the New Year. I want to say a special THANK YOU to you for your support over the years and for sticking with my blog the highs and lows. Thank you x

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    Replies
    1. Mark Willis1 January 2014 at 17:20

      Thanks for those kind words, Shaheen. As for "sticking with" your blog, it was my pleasure. We can always count on you to regale us with innovative ways to feed ourselves! Keep it coming like that and ALL your followers will stick with you.

      Delete
  7. Rainy Day Gardener2 January 2014 at 01:02

    Happy New Year Mark! You received a fine gift, indeed! I am wishing you a happy, healthy and garden filled 2014 :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. David2 January 2014 at 19:43

    Lovely little plates.. perfect for nibbles.

    ReplyDelete

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