Begging for Biot

A Biot jarre sitting pretty from a John Saladino house featured on the cover of Veranda Magazine.

The best thing about our business is, and always will be, the people we work with.  We’re a funny little eclectic family who love what we do, get along great, and each bring a different je-ne-sais-quoi to the mix. Not a day goes by that we don’t thank our lucky stars for this darling group of people who support us, engage us, enlighten us, sometimes boss us, and always seem to love us despite our horrible shortcomings as the high maintenance, controlling mother hens that we are!

So here’s such a great example of one such person. Allison (yes, the calm, cool, collected beautiful brunette who is often confused with Meg), comes to us from Louisiana royalty, has more friends than anyone we’ve ever met, and has the best eye for all things fun, fabulous and Frenchy. In the nicest way, she has been gently urging us for months to consider bringing “jarres” from France. In particular, she’s been begging us for Biots (pronounced Bee-ott), the centuries’ old functional olive jars that were manufactured in Biot, France, and were widely sold all from Spain to Italy, when olive trees were sprouting by the thousands in the Mediterranean panhandle.

It took us a while to warm up to the jarres idea, because buying them can be pretty tricky: The authentic antique jarres are expensive, somewhat fragile and hard to come by, since they are a limited quantity.  But with Allison’s persistent prodding every time we went on a buying trip, and our own observation that the few “jarres” available were always the first to be sold at all the antiques fairs, we did more than warm up to it:  Much to Allison’s delight, we’ve caught the Biot bug and become obsessed!  And as is always the case, the most fun part has been the people we work with during our buying trips and the stories we learn behind the business.  We’ve discovered that a lot of the dealers love their jarres so much and are so passionate about them, that they really don’t want to part with them!  And of course that just makes us want them more …

A typical grouping of jarres that are always marked sold at all the fairs we go to.

A beautiful example of an 18th C jarre that is more egg shaped. If you were to cut it in half, the top would be almost identical to the bottom.  Notice also the “estampes” which are the distinct markings used by traders in the 17th and 18th century, to identify the jarre’s provenance for trading across borders.

A great example of a 19th century jarre, where the bottom is more bulbous and the top lip is thicker. We don’t love talking about this part but it is kind of interesting: they developed the yellow ring around the top lip to keep the rats from climbing inside the jarres. So the later ones will always have more of the shiny yellow varnish across the top.

We love the patina on this beautiful 18th century jarre, that belongs to a friend in Louisiana.

We were first drawn to the jarres for their gorgeous decorative presence in gardens line this one (from Pinterest).

 Or this beautiful jarre on the terrace of a provencal home, from Pinterest.

Look at these lovely greeters at the front door of a beautiful home in the South.

Or the romance of this beautiful pair, whose lovely patina rivals that of the splendid gracious house behind it.

Or this pretty jarre nestled on the terrace of a friend’s home near L.A.  The shape and the top lip tell us that it’s early 1800′s.

As much as we like jarres outside, in gardens, courtyards or on terraces, we also love to see them inside, like these smaller ones, propped on a console by the front door (from Pinterest).

 

Or like this beautiful 1800′s jarre, with its patina and gorgeous yellow necklace, the star of a Baton Rouge dining room.

And of course nothing is nicer than a pair – although the French never really thought about the value of decorative pairs until the late 1800′s.

Look at the simple elegance of this jarre, sitting pretty next to a well worn, elegant chair.

One of our favorite bloggers, Sharon Santoni, shared this image of a French interior with a gorgeous 17th C. Biot propped simply next to a Louis Philippe armoire.

So now we’re admittedly hooked and all the more excited that our container of treasures from France, due to arrive early next week, will have several Biot jarres (and a few from Anduze too … but that’s another blog!) that we politely prodded from the proud owners’ hands in France. Allison is beside herself and can’t wait to see what we’ve got. Here’s a little sneak preview of a few we’ve been taunting her with:

 

Our very own pedigreed Biot, with the markings to identify its ripe old age of 250, at least!  Look at the patina on this one … the drips are enough to make us all drool!

Oh and never ones to shy away from the camera, here we are! The proud owners of a bountiful and beautiful bunch of Biots!

So for the first time, our new found obsessions will be looking for new homes: In Atlanta and across the country. There are a half dozen on their way, and just like the best part of our business is the people we work with, these very old jarres are like family members too (we know Sam will have each one of them named by the time they come off the truck!). Gracious old souls who’ve worked hard and seen a lot in the last 250 years. We can’t wait to welcome them to the new country!

Ta ta,

HH