Signs of A Beautiful Time
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.
