The Merchant of Prato, Importer of Quimper Pottery

The Merchant of Prato has been importing fine, handcrafted Quimper Pottery from Brittany, France since 2007. The business was started by Pam Mooney, who developed a love of Quimper faience on her many trips to France. After a successful Internet career, she decided to share her passion of Quimper and started The Merchant of Prato.

People often ask why the business is named “The Merchant of Prato”. Once in the Tuscan town of Prato, located about 8 miles northeast of Florence, lived an influential businessman named Francesco di Marco Datini. He was an important merchant who is created by implementing the first partnership system in business in the year 1383. History has coined him “The Merchant of Prato”.

Datini left behind a notebook entitled “For God and Profit” upon which he recorded thirty-five years of his business dealings. In his lifetime, Datini made a fortune trading in arms, armor, art, silk, leather, wool, spices and more and by the end of his life had set up offices across the Mediterranean. This notebook is one of the greatest historical records of Medieval life and the development of the modern commercial world.

History of Quimper Pottery

In 1690, potter Jean Baptiste Bousquet started manufacturing a hand-painted French faience known as Quimper Pottery (pronounced “cam-pair”) in the town of Quimper in Brittany, France. The area around Quimper known as Locmaria had an abundance of clay, a navigable river and skilled labor and was to be an ideal place for Jean Baptiste Bousquet to build his kilns. The firm was known as HB Quimper.

Business for Bousquet was very good and in 1772, a rival firm was founded by Francoise Eloury known as Porquier. In 1778, looking to get in on a good thing, Guillaume Dumaine set up a third firm known as HR or Henriot Quimper. All three workshops produced similar pottery featuring the areas Breton peasants and local florals.

Time went on and Quimper became known for its charming pottery. In 1913, Porquier and Henriot merged and in 1968 merged with HB. In 1906, Henriot bought out Porquier, leaving just two Faïenceries in Quimper. And then in 1968, Henriot merged with HB leaving just one Faiencier in Quimper.

In 1984, the company was sold to a US businessman, Paul Janssens who relaunched the company as HB Henriot. And then in 2011, the company was repurchased by Frenchman, Jean Pierre Le Goff renamed Henriot Quimper.

Henriot Quimper continues the legacy by producing Quimper pottery following traditional methods and with traditional designs. The superbly talented resident artists at Henriot still hand-craft every piece of Quimper Pottery from start to finish.

Our store pays tribute to the original Merchant of Prato, Francesco di Marco Datini! Our products - all handcrafted in France - preserve a love of traditions which are carried on to this day with products still being crafted today as they were hundreds of years ago!

Merchant of Prato is a purveyor of Italian Ceramics, Carrara Marble Fruit, Saladini Knives, and Lady Clare Placemats.