Tuesday 22 November 2011

A truly authentic Country Look - Une Ferme Alsacienne


'Des edredons en kelsh ancien dans la chambre,
des poteries de Soufflenheim dans la cuisine,
des poêles du XVIII. siecle dans la stube et des coffres un peu partout:
Un Musée d'art populaire quelque part en Alsace?
Non, une ferme des  adossées aux Vosges,
habitée, pensée, parée par un couple d'Antiquaire inspirés.'

*
An old farm house in the Alsace, East France, on the foot hill of the Vosges mountains,
not far from Strasbourg, just opposite of  the Black Forest on the western side of the Rhine.

Charmingly decorated and interiored by Bernard and Christine Demay,
a couple of passionate Antiquaires.

Found this in an older issue of  COTE  EST
and thought it will nicely round-out my previous posts of the Black Forest region.

Because I do have quite a number of francophile readers I've left the original text in French.
 

'Vue plongeante sur la stube d'hiver, chaleureuse et recuellie autour de son poêle en fonte.
Du sol au plafond, le bois est omniprésent.
Original, le séchoir ancien accroché à l'une des poutres.'
(the old drying rail fixed to one of the beams above the cast iron stove)


La Ferme...
  same architectural style as in the Black Forest region


'....on y découvre des coffres polychromes (painted trunks) qui n'ont plus très bonne mine,
des bahuts (buffets) mis à mal par les ans...'


On the ground floor:

La stube d'hiver  (the 'winter room')....
'....au-dessus du canapé, une vue de Strasbourg et des cartes anciennes.
A l'extrème gauche, une corniche surplombe des portraits fixés sous verre,
 typiques de la région et présente une série de bocks de bière...'



'Le coins repas avec les bancs habillés de kelsh (benches with cushions of old kelsch linen)
et les traditionnelles chaises alsaciennes,
( in the Black Forest region and Southern Germany we call these chairs "Stabellen- or Brezelstuehle")


' ...une maison bien campée sur ses poutre...'


La Cuisine....
'...s'ouvre sur le jardin et, l'été, la fenètre encadrée par des huiliers de Bercksdorf,
sert de passe-plat, puisque la table et juste en dessous!
Panier à escargots, poêle à châtaignes, râpes à fromage sont suspendus au plafond,
tandis qu'un petit rideau en kelsh cache la poubelle....'



'....bel ouvrage que cet escalier de meunier qui mène aux chambres....'

The original beautiful staircase leading to the bed rooms, bath room
and
La stube d'èté  (the 'summer room')
...avec un écritoire (an 18th century writing table) Louis XVI.
et des fauteuils Louis XIII.  (early 18th chairs)...
Sur l'étagère dans un joli dégradé de bleus, un collection de pots à lait à petit pois,
à fleurettes et naives volutes.
(on the shelve a collection of old milk jars, typical for the region)

and...

La chambre d'amis  (the guest room).....
'...avec son extraordinaire ciel-de-lit en sapin.....
...Ici, on ne dort pas dans autre chose que du kelsh!
Par terre, un sac de blé qui arbore l'année de la récolte et sa provenance....'

*
"...L'amour des objets est le véritable moteur des ces antiquaires-restaurateurs dans l'âme.
Dans la quitétude e leurs granges, Bernard retape tandis Christine repeint.
Leur plus grand bonheur?
Rendre à un coffre polychrome du XVIIIeme siecle,
remanié maintes et maintes fois, ses couleurs d'origine....."

- all images and text  COTE  EST, 2000 -

******

Now...what is Kelsh ?


The word itself, 'kelsch' in allemanic dialect, originates from "Koelnisch Blau",
'Bleu de Cologne'  -  'Cologne Blue'.
It refers to a plant grown as animal feed, and whose leaves and stems
were the sources of an intense blue dye.  As early as the 7th Century,
the plant, along with hemp and linen, was the main crop
cultivated in eastern France and neighboring Germany.
From the 16th Century through to the 19th Century, the word 'kelsch'
 came to describe the hand-woven linen and hemp cloths made by the rural peasantry.

Kelsch denotes a plain weave in linen or hemp with checks or stripes
in ecru and blue, or ecru and red, or the three shades combined.
Blue came from the woad and later indigo, and red from madder.


  It is said that Charlemagne, Karl der Grosse, the Franken King,
who resided in Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle) in the 7th century, 
 recommended these cloths and commended the use of linen and hemp.
Since then, in Alsace, Black Forest and the Upper Rhine region,
they have adhered to the tradition of making plain weave in these three shades.
 

These pieces of cloth, one plain bottom, one patterned top,
where tightly whipstitched together on three sides. Linen ribbons, appliqued to the open edge
  of the envelope after the three sides of the finished piece were joined,
kept the feather or straw lining, crudely in place.  Vents cut into the cloth
or formed by leaving the corners of the kelsch open,
which allowed the family to stir the stuffing with their hands, thus keeping it well distributed.

19th Century Alsace kelsch linen plaid or duvet cover, 56" x 65"
and a large pillow or bolster sham, 45" x 29" 


Large 19th century sham, Black Forest


Late 19th Century Alsace and early 20th Century Black Forest  kelsch

*


All linen kelsch shown here is from my own collection
and now for sale,
should you be interested on any piece, just drop me a mail.

(detail of an 18th century polychrome trunk)

Bonne Semaine !

for further info about "Kelsch" and/or any inquiries please  contact

14 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing this very special place in a region of France I've never been lucky enough to visit. I noted in your header the hydrangeas. I never thought that you would share the same shrub that we have growing all over Alabama. If you visit my Birmingham blog, you'll see some dried blossoms on my header as well!
    V

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  2. This reminds me so much of the Swiss farm house belonging to the brother of my daughter's employer. Many similarities. When she lived in CH I visited the farm and was charmed by the lovely old things and the delicious fresh farm food.
    I hope you are having a wonderful time. I'm enjoying your pictures of your holiday.

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  3. i LOVE this farmhouse! :) looks really nice!!! outside especially :D

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  4. No wonder you feel so at home in France the beams they look exactly the same as the ones we have in our barn. Love the kelsch and have a lot of it myself it's so pretty!

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  5. Hello,

    Somewhere, it's always been a dream for me to live in such houses. Thanks for the French, it is friendly to think at the Francophones.

    Have a wonderful evening.

    Jérôme

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  6. Danke für den tollen Rundgang! Ich konnte sehr viel lernen.
    Liebe Grüße,
    Markus

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  7. Love this post, beautiful.
    The collection of old milk jars
    tugged at my heart.

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  8. Eine ländliche Idylle!

    Ich mag das Elsaß auch sehr - mit seinen malerischen Winzerortschaften.
    Und Colmar und Strasbourg und und und ...

    ♥ Franka

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  9. What a special and beautiful post!! Love all the colors...so lovely!!

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  10. Hi Karin Im back and just catching up wow they were all VERY beautiful
    Off to dream now Fay xx

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  11. How did we miss these? !

    I must observe that your home was even more charming than this lovely one. We're still trying to figure out the hows and when regarding a pallet of limestones...

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  12. sigh...when can I move in please ?? Love all the linens too...beautiful post... Gail x

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  13. I loved reading this post and learning all about Kelsch ...beautiful linens. Many generations back, my family lived in the Alsace region and I would love to visit one day. Perhaps they lived in a beautiful old farmhouse like this! :)
    Take care, Laura

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  14. Beautiful cozy home, to think that I am yet to visit Alsace! I am due for a real tour of my own country. Looking forward to reading more on BY Invitation only...

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