Étranger Things: Why I Started This Little Corner of the Internet

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My Journey: Help Me Reunite a Very Fragile Provence Dinner Service — Souleo vs Terre e Provence, Explained

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Help me find more pieces of my vintage Terre Provence/Souleo “Divers” faïence—spot one at a brocante? Send a photo of the stamp + size!

Three years ago, I won something at Abell’s in Los Angeles labeled (dramatically, vaguely, irresistibly) a “French Faience Service.” This was almost two years before we ever decided to move to France… which means my plates were basically doing an exchange program without me.

Fast forward to Aix-en-Provence: I’m eating like an actual person who lives here—salads, little tarts, “just a small apéro” that turns into a three-hour event—off these sun-yellow, hand-painted Provençal dishes… and I have one tiny problem:

They chip if you so much as look at them with American confidence.

The slightest bump = éclat (chip). A gentle clink = heartbreak. At this point I set them down the way you’d place a sleeping baby into a crib: slow, reverent, and whispering apologies in French.

And that brings me to you, my beloved 10 original readers (the ones who were here when this blog was mostly me arguing with French paperwork) and my 3 new WhatsApp channel readers who joined in the last two months: will you help me find more pieces?

If you’re out at a brocante / vide-grenier / Emmaüs / antique shop and you see something that looks like my set… please tell me. Photos. Measurements. Price. Condition. I will react like you just discovered buried treasure. Because you did.

The revelation (a tiny chip, a big lesson)

I used to think a “matching dinner service” was for people who own napkin rings and don’t use their oven as storage.

Then I watched a new chip appear from a bump so gentle it was basically a compliment. And it clicked: this isn’t “a set.” It’s a little portable Provence—ochre-yellow like late afternoon sunlight, green bands like olive leaves, and those berries/flowers that look like they were painted while someone was humming.

Also: it taught me a new sentence I can now say in French with real emotion:

“C’est joli… mais c’est fragile.”
(It’s pretty… but it’s fragile.)

What pattern is this? “Divers,” aka: “Yes, it matches… but not identically”

If you’ve been Googling along with me, you’ve probably seen the word “Divers.” In French it means “various / assorted / miscellaneous.” In the pottery world, it’s used like a collection name for a look that’s consistent in vibe, but varies in the brushwork from piece to piece.

Replacements lists the pattern as “Provence Divers” and describes it in a very catalog-y way (yellow, green bands, embossed flowers/dots) and notes it’s discontinued. (Replacements)

And retailers who sell this line often emphasize the point collectors care about most: no two pieces are decorated exactly alike—same “family,” slightly different “siblings.” (Buy Copper Cookware)

So if you find a plate that looks almost like mine, don’t panic. “Almost” is part of the charm.

The big confusion: Souleo vs “Terre e Provence” vs Terre è Provence (Saint-Rémy)

This is the part where the internet tries to prank us.

1) Souleo È Provence = a maker/brand name

Souleo appears in trade/industry listings (Maison&Objet’s MOM platform) as a brand emphasizing 100% artisanal production and Provençal tableware. (mom.maison-objet.com)

In other words: Souleo = the name you’ll often see attached to the pottery line as a brand.

2) “Terre e Provence” on your vintage backstamp = an older mark collectors treat as the same family/line

In practical collector land (and especially in U.S. retail/import wording), Souleo Provence is frequently described as “formerly known as Terre E Provence.” (Buy Copper Cookware)

That’s why you’ll see the same yellow-and-green, hand-painted Provençal pieces show up in listings with both names—sometimes even in the same sentence.

So:

  • Older pieces may be stamped “Terre Provence / Terre e Provence – Made in France” (like mine)

  • Later importing/retail descriptions often call the line “Souleo Provence” (Buy Copper Cookware)

Collectors generally treat these as the same family of pottery—just labeled differently depending on era and reseller.

3) Terre è Provence (Saint-Rémy boutique) = a retailer, not the manufacturer

There is also a very real, very charming Terre è Provence boutique in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence selling Provençal faïence and tableware. (terre-provence.com)

But here’s the important detail: the official French business registry (INSEE SIRENE) lists TERRE E PROVENCE at that address as an “enseigne” (shop name) with a retail activity code (home-goods retail). (INSEE API)

Translation: that Saint-Rémy “Terre è Provence” is a retail shop identity, not proof that the shop itself is the pottery factory that made your vintage stamped pieces.

(And yes—this is exactly the kind of nuance that makes collectors start carrying reading glasses to brocantes. Ask me how I know.)

How you can help me in the wild (brocante mode)

If you spot something that looks right, I need just a few things:

  1. Front photo (so I can see the yellows/greens + berry/flower motif)

  2. Backstamp photo (the money shot)

  3. Size (diameter in cm, or “salad plate vs dinner plate vs serving platter”)

  4. Condition: chips (éclats), cracks (fêlures), crazing (craquelures)

  5. Price (so I can pretend I’m rational and then immediately become irrational)

I’m especially hunting:

  • dinner plates + salad plates

  • bowls

  • serving platters, saladier, plat à tarte

  • anything “special” (pitcher, tureen, big baking dish)

Also yes: I’m going to learn ceramic repair. I have accepted my destiny. (That’s a whole post for another day: “How to become a person who owns glue labeled ‘food safe.’”)

Mini French toolkit for the hunt (A1 → Advanced)

A1

  • “Je cherche des assiettes.” (I’m looking for plates.)

  • “C’est combien ?” (How much?)

A2

  • “Je peux voir le dessous, s’il vous plaît ?” (May I see the bottom?)

  • “Il y a une marque ?” (Is there a brand mark?)

B1

  • “Je cherche la marque Terre Provence / Souleo.”

  • “Vous avez d’autres pièces du même service ?” (Any more pieces from the same set?)

B2

  • “Je reconstitue un service provençal—je cherche surtout des pièces de service.”

  • “Je peux prendre une photo du tampon pour vérifier ?” (Can I take a photo of the stamp to verify?)

Advanced

  • “Je cherche le décor ‘Divers’ (fond jaune, bandes vertes, motifs provençaux peints à la main).” (Replacements)

  • “Même une pièce proche peut m’intéresser—dans cette gamme, rien n’est parfaitement identique.” (Buy Copper Cookware)

Your turn (please comment so we can crowdsource this like civilized goblins)

  1. Have you seen Souleo / Terre Provence / Terre e Provence “Divers” pieces around Aix, Saint-Rémy, Avignon, Marseille, or the Luberon brocantes?

  2. Do you have a favorite brocante or Emmaüs where dishes like this pop up?

  3. If you’re one of the 3 new WhatsApp readers: where are you from, and what’s your current “why is French like this?” moment?

If you spot a piece in the wild, drop a comment with “FOUND ONE!” and tell me where—then we’ll coordinate like a tiny Provence pottery rescue squad.

Location: Provence, France

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