French studio pot, Vallauris? - Poet Laval

Hello, I'm looking for clues as to the provenance of this lovely brocante find in SW France. It's a studio pot, well-made but not overly precise (the lid is slightly over-sized for example), and it's unmarked except for an incised 'L' (or possibly a 'V') on the base.

The glaze is very unusual with multiple layers in white, green and red on a black base. It's sort of a cross between drip glaze and fat lava - almost a marbled effect.




It's done with some skill and I can't imagine it's not part of a series but I can't find anything comparable online. I've tried reverse image searching and it comes up with Vallauris pottery, which is possible, but again I can't find anything that's exactly right.

Finally, it's in phenomenal condition- I removed the remains of an extremely old paper sticker from the side of it (this was haphazardly applied like a price tag so not the ID!) so it's not very new, but could certainly be 80s or 90s if it's not mid century. However stylistically it's fairly right for a 60s pot IMO.

I would love any thoughts at all, even if just how to describe the glaze! Thanks so much in advance for any feedback (:

It looks moulded rather than thrown. Might be a 70s era pot from Vallauris

agree its Vallauris IMO

NaomiM wrote:It looks moulded rather than thrown. Might be a 70s era pot from Vallauris

Thanks NaomiM! You are probably right on the moulded call, as there are no grooves or ridges apparent in the interior. The handles are a bit charmingly irregular so I'm sure its handmade but apart from that I'm not knowledgeable enough about potting techniques.

One other thing I noticed when inspecting the interior is that there are 4 'bubbles' on the base inside - is that a sign of anything?

Thanks again :)

tenpot wrote:agree its Vallauris IMO

Thanks for your comment! I might post this on the Vallauris thread to see if anyone can suggest a possible attribution...

The bumps of glaze inside are probably thick glaze over bits of clay they didnt wipe off before glazing.

Our Vallauris thread is for Identified pots, merged from the ID My Pottery section. We'll add this post to it if it's confirmed it's Vallauris.

Great thank you for the answers NaomiM ! I will keep my fingers crossed that someone knows who this might be, Vallauris or no. Seems a bit odd to me that someone went to a lot of effort to make / glaze the pot but that they don't have a distinct mark...seems too technical to be a hobbyist piece, but the lack of a distinct mark makes me wonder. Hopefully someone can shed some light Thanks again!

They might have used an ink stamp which has rubbed off.

NaomiM wrote:They might have used an ink stamp which has rubbed off.

Oh right! There are some ghosts of letters or numbers there but definitely nothing legible anymore sadly. Good to know that's a possibility :)

had a sudden doubt I know the pattern but its Poet Laval https://www.label-emmaus.co/fr/vase-triangulaire-vintage-annees-70-poet-laval-36233179/

tenpot wrote:had a sudden doubt I know the pattern but its Poet Laval

Genius tenpot - thank you so much        

Yes I think you are right, it's very similar. Not the most popular pattern by the looks of it, but great to know where it came from, even if it's not Vallauris  Not too much information about the studio (factory?) online (so far, at least) but after looking around a bit just now, I think that some pitchers they produced (which are often attributed as Vallauris pots) made me think it was from there. (I just tried to post some links to images but the site won't let me as I'm too new...but for anyone who is further interested they have a related series called " And this "Extreme Cosmic Lava" (what a name!) so you can search that out.

While they were obviously working with the influence of Vallauris / German pots / modernism in general in this series, they seem to be generally best known for a very different style of pot. Still find it a bit odd that there's no marks on my one, though the PL "arty" pieces they produce seem to only have marks half the time. Or perhaps it was a 'second' or an experiment?

Anyway, thank you SO much again for your detective work - I really appreciate knowing where it came from ! Now to hunt out some more history...

its the 'faiencerie de Coursange' I have a collection of pallete shaped plates with different patterns its not that far from where I live. Jaques Pouchain worked there at one time

tenpot wrote:its the 'faiencerie de Coursange' I have a collection of pallete shaped plates with different patterns its not that far from where I live. Jaques Pouchain worked there at one time

Great thank you again! Also, I just searched for Poet Laval on this site and found your amazing pics of the factory from 2011 - the last one is particularly lovely; and poignant with that small half table of product in that cavernous space...loved it.