French Quimper Faience Cheese Lidded Plate

A beurrier (butter keeper) or assiette à fromage (cheese plate) from Patricia and Walter Wells’s apartment in Paris, handmade in Quimper faience from Brittany and sized for a round of Camembert. The scalloped plate is edged in blue and circled with hand-painted floral sprigs in green, blue, rose, and yellow. Its cream-glazed dome is softly ribbed, repeats the garland, and lifts by a charming fruit finial in warm orange with a curved stem and two leaves. Lively brushwork and the workshop tradition give the piece an inviting presence at the table. With its low, generous silhouette, it comfortably holds a whole cheese and keeps it discreetly covered between courses. True to Patricia’s kitchens and gardens, where simplicity meets good sense, this Breton piece is both useful and companionable. Set it out with Camembert or a fresh chèvre (goat cheese), put it to work as a butter keeper at breakfast, or let the lidded duo add a true note of France to open shelves. A graceful, everyday companion for entertaining and teaching, rooted in Brittany’s craft and in Patricia Wells’s own way of life between Paris and Provence.