Tea set| Alexander Kostanda | Vallauris (teapot, sugar pot and milk jar)

Tea set including a beautiful teapot, a sugar pot and a milk jar. Signed by alexandre kostanda. Small accident on the lid of the sugar jar. Visible especially in it. - Alexandre kostanda is a ceramist born in 1924 in poland. Apprenticed to louis giraud in vallauris in 1936, he taught ceramics in biot. He settled in cluny, saône-et-loire in 1942. At the end of the war, he taught turning and pottery at the faïenceries learning centre in longchamps in côte-d'or1. He will be the teacher of the four founders of the accolay workshops. In 1949, he returned to vallauris to take over the management of louis giraud's studio. Alexandre kostanda founded his own studio in 1953. He brings sandstone clay from cluny, which withstands higher firing temperatures, and mixes it with vallauris soil. He was one of the ceramists who organized in 1968 the international biennial of ceramics of vallauris. His production, sensual and plastic at the beginning, evolves towards a more refined ceramic, with floral or abstract motifs. The sets are often painted by his mother irène, former decorator "at ripolin" at giraud. In vallauris, despite the shimmering colors of local ceramics, alexandre kostanda keeps a predilection for muted colors, close to the natural hues of clay. Its ceramics, rustic in appearance, surprise with the finesse of its workmanship and the balance of its proportions, revealing kostanda's exceptional technical mastery. Aimed at an eclectic audience, kostanda's ceramics cover styles corresponding to different tastes: from rustic-country lunches, without decoration, to vases, plates and dishes decorated with floral motifs, stylized characters or compositions inspired by cubism. Some pitchers, in 'free form', defy any utilitarian use, and redefine themselves as sculptures and meditations on an outdated functionality.