Coffee service in high-fired stoneware - Signed Yvonne Seyve & Josiane Chaudet

This complete service for 8 people is exceptionally rare as a set — most pieces from this duo circulate individually. Its completeness, direct provenance, sleek forms, and characteristic glaze make it an interesting lot for collectors and enthusiasts of 20th-century French ceramics.

Ceramists: Yvonne Seyve (born 1929) and Josiane Chaudet (born 1941)
Period: 1970s-1980s
Origin: Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d'Or / Neuville-sur-Saône, France
Provenance: Direct purchase from the artists (family ownership since)

Description of the service:

This service includes 19 pieces:
8 cups
8 saucers
1 sugar bowl
1 milk jug
1 coffee pot

Glaze:
High-fired stoneware, brown-ochre to deep olive green glaze, heavily speckled with coppery spots (rust, iron red) and dark punctuations (graphite, brown-black). Glossy finish, slightly metallic.

Texture and effects:
The glaze features irregular areas with smooth transitions between warm brown (honey, ochre), deep fir green, and metallic spots. The glossy vitreous finish gives satin reflections, and the gray-beige clay of the stoneware appears where the layer is thinner (foot, edges).

Condition:
Very good condition, rarely used.

Average dimensions:

Cups height ~7 cm, diameter ~ 5 cm
Coffee pot height with lid 24 cm
Sugar bowl height with lid 12 cm
Milk jug height 10 cm

The coffee pot is signed on the back underneath the base with the joint names "Yvonne Seyve" and "Josiane Chaudet"

Why this service is notable:
Yvonne Seyve and Josiane Chaudet form a significant duo in post-war French ceramics. They worked together for several decades in their workshop in Saint-Didier-au-Mont-d'Or (Rhône, Lyon region), and their work is recognized by institutions.

Their production encompasses several glaze formulas — from milky white to speckled brown-green, including pyritized pieces and celadons. This service represents one of their most sought-after formulas: high-fired stoneware with lively glazes, typical of the stoneware revival of the 1960s-1980s.

Ownership history:
This service was purchased directly from the artists, who had formed a friendly relationship with the buyers in the 1960s-1980s. It has been passed down as an inheritance and has been rarely used since the purchase, and not at all since.

Presence in national collections:
Five of their other works are included in the collections of the National Museum of Ceramics in Sèvres, which acquired them in 1983 (inventory MNC 25069-25073).

Current market:
Pieces from the duo regularly appear in regional auctions (Lyon Enchères, HdV Giraudeau) and at specialized galleries.

Delivery:
Shipping will be carried out from Germany. Postal costs are not yet known.