Posted 7 years ago
Supernova
(1 item)
Can anyone identify this Le Creuset please with style, type, year or anything? Cast Iron, stamped "LE CREUSET MADE IN FRANCE 4.5" on the bottom. 9"x11" with a 2.25" depth and 2.50" height.
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although I can't find black was a color offered, and makes me believe the enamel was removed. This appears to be a Raymond Lowey design pan. Pan marking is 45 not 4.5 - These pieces were reintroduced for limited time in 2014
https://www.etsy.com/listing/482625911/raymond-loewy-le-creuset-coquelle-45
This is definitely a pot in the Coquelle line designed for Le Creuset by Raymond Loewy in 1958, and the enamel does seem to have been removed. The original, 1958 version had a "ribbed" bottom and was fully enameled; the fact that the this bottom is smooth definitively dates it at a later iteration, though it is hard to determine which. For the record, there IS an all-black enameled version that came out in the 1980s and was marketed exclusively through the old Spiegel catalog. My research has concluded that there have been at least 4 iterations of the Coquelle: the original 1958 debut; the 1980s version with the raw cast iron bottom; the limited edition issued in 2005 for Le Creuset's 80th anniversary with a smooth enameled bottom, and the most recent reissue dated 2015 in only two colors (flame and turquoise). This information has been gathered from various sources, the most helpful of which is the 7,200 member-strong "Le Creuset Lovers" closed group on Facebook, which contains very serious collectors. Unfortunately, Le Creuset has not released any definitive information to assist in dating these vessels...