It’s a sign of the times that everyone loves to visit western Europe, with their beautifully preserved medieval and historic towns and villages.
And speaking of signs…part of the historic charm are the quirky wrought iron shop signs, usually pictorial and hung from decorative brackets. Have you noticed them? I got curious about their backstory.
They are called enseignes de commerce. They were pictorial because in medieval days, most of the population didn’t read. See the sign above: no doubt about what’s in that shop. The more recent versions have words. The fancy brackets they hang from are known as potences.
The French love to make common objects beautiful, so merchants were proud of their signs. Artisans, known as ferronniers d’art, specialized in making them. The motifs featured tools, religious symbols, crests, animals, and more.
This sign features a very ornate potence:
While larger towns modernized their signs over time, villages and rural areas preserved them. These days you can even find them displayed in museums. They have some in one of my favorite museums, the Musée Carnavalet in the Marais, which focuses on the history of Paris.
Here are some more fun examples:
This is the sign for a wine shop called Tastevin, which is the name for the silver cup used for tasting, like the one hanging from the sign.
This is a favorite, on a street near my house. I love that it has a little scene on the sign.
A more modern version:
Maybe due to this artistic tradition, even today the French love to get playful with their signs. Here are a few examples:
This one proudly announces that the Tour de France will soon be coming through the village.
A sociable neighbor decided to post a welcoming sign at their house:
The sign on this restaurant in the Bresse hints at their speciality:
And finally, I like to stop for a photo when I encounter my very favorite street sign of all:
In the COMMENTS: Anne Marie, I went right out and got some potatoes to make your easy recipe. And Natalia, oh my gosh those sweet potatoes! It’s like everyone’s favorite Thanksgiving casserole made easy. And Francine, it’s hot in Arizona already—while the rest of us have been having a cool spring, with even a late freeze in the vines. And Ellen, coming from you, that is quite a compliment, thank you.
Favorite READS: Natalia’s book for us this week is The Violin Makers Secret by Irish writer Evie Woods. This one looks particularly intriguing, I can’t wait to read it. And be sure to read Karen McCann’s blog this week, called Just Join Something. this expat (Spain) is doing a whole series on connecting, and being good neighbors.
6 thoughts on “Signs of A Beautiful Time”
Loved the bunch of grapes. And I shudder to think of what happened to the bottom of the moon sign—or more specifically what happened to the person who might have caused it to fall off. Signs are a wonderful way to combine creativity and ensure a customer base. And I’m going to look for those ice cream cones next time. They’re wonderfully whimsical and need no interpretation as to what’s for sale.
Hello Lynne. I really enjoyed this post. Thanks for seeing and sharing these great images.
FYI Le Musée le Secq des Tournelles (iron museum) in Rouen has great old signs snd other interesting examples of historic ironwork. An added plus is that it’s housed in an old church. I highly recommend it if you’re ever in Rouen.
Loved this story and the signs! I have quite a collection of sign photos scattered here and there. You’re looking great so you must be resisting the ice cream signs too often.
Bonjour Lynn,
Merci beaucoup for engaging us in the background of these fabulous signs ! I look forward to travelling to the Alsace region this month where they are gorgeous and plentiful ! A bientot !
Julie
Our dear Lynn,thank you for another(once again!) wonderful post( oh!what a privilege to live where you do!) and those truly glorious pictures( though honnetment,my most favorites are the ones of beautiful YOU with ,bien sur,ICE CREAM!!MIAM!!!Especially the last one where the cone matches your cool shoes!!!)
All of this has totally captured my imagination!
My book suggestion this time is by one of our favorites,Musso- “The Face in the Seine”.This book is in English but also is available in French.I originally thought it was about the young lady whose body was discovered in the Seine( whose face,through all these these years, became so popular and famous, it was even made into masks hanging on doors and walls!) But no! This is totally different,and as Musso always does,keeps our attention !
Pardon! The correct title is “The Stranger in the Seine”!!