Snuff bottles have been produced in Quimper since around 1870.  Although the formal name for snuffs is "tabatičres" (tobacco holders), those made in Quimper are usually called "secouettes," from the verb "secouer" meaning "to shake."  Some say they were gifts to a fiancé from his loved one.  Since they were kept in men’s pockets it is little wonder that many were broken.  Their scarcity, their varied forms and their appealing decorations assure their continual appeal.  
     
  All of the snuffs pictured below were produced in the late 1800s and are unsigned, as was common in that period.  Attributions are from the Encyclopédie des céramiques de Quimper, Vol. II where the authors, Philippe Le Stum and Bernard Jules Verlingue, designate many similar snuffs as "manufacture Porquier" from the last half of the 19th century.   
 

   
 
   
       
  Known as a “montre de gousset” (fob watch) this round snuff has a watch dial on one side and a Breton figure on the other.  Most snuffs had a small cork to  prevent the contents from spilling. This one has an old, well fitted, hand-carved wooden stopper, which is probably not original. The snuff itself is a Porquier piece in excellent condition.  
     
       
       
 

 

  
     
 

A very unusual oval Porquier snuff that appears only rarely. It has the sought after pansy on one side and the always desirable rooster on the other, both well rendered.  Scrolls frame the pictures on both sides.  The snuff fits perfectly in the hand. 

The upper left scroll above the rooster and a spot above it near the top have original glaze skips.  Another glaze skip is upper right on the pansy side.  All are results of the hazards of wood burning kilns.  Condition is excellent.

  

 		    
       
   
 
Another Porquier snuff in the form of a round flask.  One side has a three-color cross-and-square design enclosed in a circle.  The other is a generous floral bouquet.  Apart from one flake of old red paint missing from the right hand sprig (red is always fragile), condition is excellent.
 

 

  
   
       
 
This blue and yellow Porquier snuff in the shape of a fleur-de-lys has a croisillé design on both sides.  The stopper hole is at the bottom.  A really nice example of this form in excellent condition.    SOLD		  
     
     

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