Berthe Savigny (1882 - 1958)

Berthe Savigny was born in Quimper. Her father was a wine and spirits merchant but also an enlightened amateur painter. He was a friend of Gauguin, Appolinaire and Max Jacob. Berthe Savigny grew up in this artistic world. Moreover, her brothers and sisters all embraced an artistic career, as did her nephews. The best known of these was undoubtedly Pierre De Belay, her younger brother. Partially deaf as a result of an accident, Berthe was able to break her isolation by practising art.

It was the success of her famous babies that brought her into contact with HB in 1926. In 1939 the Manufacture tried to put her under contract, but was never able to do so because of a lack of agreement. This did not prevent the Manufacture from publishing various models in series, the artist retaining ownership of her work.

Berthe Savigny, like her younger brother, is a purely self-taught artist. She did not limit herself to modelling, she painted a lot, even if this aspect of her is less known. She had a rich artistic life, working in collaboration with her painter and poet friend Émile Bernard (a figure of the Pont-Aven school). While many of her works depict children, she did not neglect landscapes, still lifes and scenes of daily life. Her style is marked by great tenderness and sensitivity.

After her death in 1958, her nephew Paul Alexandre Savigny Trognée continued to perpetuate the work of her aunt in his Parisian workshop. Since 2001, the faïencerie d'art breton has published four models of the artist in collaboration with the family.