Sèvres Pot-pourri Vase In The Shape Of A Ship
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''Pot pourri à vaisseau'' or ''pot pourri en navire'' ("pot-pourri holder as a vessel/ship") is the shape used for a number of pot-pourri vases in the form of masted ships, first produced between the late 1750s to the early 1760s by the Sèvres manufactory near Paris. The colours and details of the painted decoration vary between examples, as is typical of Sèvres porcelain, and one example is on a later gilt wood stand. The
openwork In art history, architecture, and related fields, openwork or open-work is any decorative technique that creates holes, piercings, or gaps through a solid material such as metal, wood, stone, pottery, cloth, leather, or ivory. Such techniques ha ...
lid lifts off to allow refilling of the pot-pourri. The shape was eventually produced in two or three versions, at slightly different sizes. It was first designed in 1757, probably by Jean-Claude Duplessis (c. 1695–1774), the artistic director of the factory. The first surviving finished example dates to 1759. Another name for them is ''vaisseau à mat'' (masted ship). These vases are considered to be one of the most famous models introduced by the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres; patrons such as
Madame de Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
and her brother the Marquis de Marigny collected the form. Among the largest vessels produced by the factory, these vases were extremely difficult to fire; the multiple openwork piercings in the body weakened the overall structure, and they tended to collapse in the
kiln A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, a type of oven, that produces temperatures sufficient to complete some process, such as hardening, drying, or Chemical Changes, chemical changes. Kilns have been used for millennia to turn objects m ...
. Consequently, only about twelve were ever produced, ten of which survive today. The shape derives from the nef, a table decoration in the form of a ship, usually of precious metals, used since medieval times. The arms of the City of Paris also showed a ship, and the vases may reflect this. The vase would have held potpourri used to perfume a room. Eighteenth-century ladies made their own, experimenting with various ingredients and sometimes blending essences for as long as nine years. The vases were made to be sold with other vases of different shapes to form a garniture to place on a mantelpiece or side table. The main background colours in different examples range from pink to green and dark blue, and the subjects of the main painted spaces from naval subjects after Dutch painting to
chinoiserie (, ; loanword from French '' chinoiserie'', from '' chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other Sinosphere artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, lite ...
genre scenes. The paintings on the rear are mostly flowers, or other inanimate objects, such as the garnish of marine still-life on the Walters' example.


Versions and copies

Sèvres still have some of the moulds, and a plaster model which incorporates features from both sizes. At Sèvres the shape evolved from a vase with no lid, the ''cuvette à masques'', produced from 1754 (earliest example, at Houghton Hall), and the shape of the ''pot pourri à vaisseau'' was also used in an adaptation as a lidded tureen with a stand, the ''terrine gondole'' from at least 1757 (two in the
Hofburg Palace The Hofburg () is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria. Located in the center of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century by Ottokar II of Bohemia and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the im ...
in Vienna), and a different ''pot pourri gondole''. The popularity of Sèvres porcelain with English collectors in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is demonstrated by the presence of all ten known examples of this shape of vase in English collections by the mid-nineteenth century. Today there is one in France, five in the UK and four in the US. The shape was copied, usually in somewhat simplified form, by some other manufacturers, notably the English firm
Mintons Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, ...
, who were commissioned to make a replica by Georgina Ward, Countess of Dudley, when her husband sold his original in the 1880s; this is the example now in the Getty Museum. File:Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory - Potpourri Vase (Vase potpourri à vaisseau) - Walters 48559 - Back (cropped).jpg, Back of the Walters Art Gallery vase. With later gilt-wood stand. File:Potpourri vase (pot-pourri à vaisseau) MET DP156523 (cropped).jpg, Back of the Metropolitan example File:Potpourri vase (pot-pourri à vaisseau) MET DP156519 (cropped).jpg, Detail of the Metropolitan example File:Potpourri vase (pot-pourri à vaisseau) MET DP156518.jpg, Detail of the Metropolitan example


Surviving vases


Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, England

Of the ten surviving ship vases, three can be seen at
Waddesdon Manor Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by the National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation, it is one of the National Trust's most visited properties, ...
in Buckinghamshire. Waddesdon Manor was built in the 1880s by
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (17 December 1839 – 17 December 1898), also known as Ferdinand James Anselm ''Freiherr'' von Rothschild, was a British banker, art collector and politician who was a member of the Rothschild family of bankers. He ...
, a keen collector of French decorative arts. The bleu céleste vase was Baron Ferdinand's first important purchase as a collector in 1861. He acquired it from the dealer Alexander Barker and it was said that the vase had been a gift to an ancestor of the Prince of Salerno by
Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...
. The front panel shows a battle scene, while the back is decorated with flowers, possibly by Jean-Louis Morin. The battle scene shows two armies, one side in white coats and the other in blue. It probably refers to the last three years of the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
that saw France allied with Austria and Spain against Britain and Prussia. Waddesdon's second ship vase has a dark blue ground colour with caillouté decoration, trellis-work and scrolls in gold. The two panels were probably painted by André-Vincent Vielliard. The front panel shows peasants seated around a table outside a tavern. This scene was adapted from a detail of the painting ''Fête de Village'' by David Teniers the Younger. Baron Ferdinand purchased this vase from the collection of the 5th Earl Spencer. The ground colour of the third ship vase is a rare 'petit vert' which was only produced for a short time around 1760. It is believed to have been purchased from a 'Mrs Yorke of Torquay'. The dock-side scene was possibly painted by Jean-Louis Morin, while the back panel is decorated with flowers. The architectural base of this vase is unique and differs from all other known ship vases. The vase was probably designed to be mounted on its existing ormolu plinth in which an ormolu dolphin is interposed between each pair of triglyphs. All three vases were produced around 1761 and are now owned by the
National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...
.


Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
, Paris

Jean-Claude Duplessis (c. 1695–1774), painted by Charles-Nicolas Dodin (1734–1803), c. 1760 in pink and green, with a
chinoiserie (, ; loanword from French '' chinoiserie'', from '' chinois'', "Chinese"; ) is the European interpretation and imitation of Chinese and other Sinosphere artistic traditions, especially in the decorative arts, garden design, architecture, lite ...
scene in the main panel, after a painting by
François Boucher François Boucher ( , ; ; 29 September 1703 – 30 May 1770) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher, who worked in the Rococo style. Boucher is known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories ...
. Once in the bedchamber of
Madame de Pompadour Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (, ; 29 December 1721 – 15 April 1764), commonly known as Madame de Pompadour, was a member of the French court. She was the official chief mistress of King Louis XV from 1745 to 1751, and rema ...
at the Hôtel d'Évreux, which is today the Elysée Palace. Soft-paste porcelain, H. 37 cm; W. 35 cm.


Walters Art Museum The Walters Art Museum is a public art museum located in the Mount Vernon, Baltimore, Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. Founded and opened in 1934, it holds collections from the mid-19th century that were amassed substantially ...
, Baltimore

H: 15 5/16 in. (38.9 cm), 1764. Dark-blue main colour, with sailors packing fish in front main panel, and a maritime trophy on the rear. Provenance: Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1928, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest. The feet are later, in gilt-wood. This differs from most examples in the form of the openwork in the upper part, here with long vertical slits rather than the complicated pattern with units of a tear shape and crescent below on most examples.


Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, New York

Main colour pink, painted with cherubs in the main panel. Designed by Jean-Claude Duplessis (active 1748–74) and dated about 1757–58, this is in soft-paste porcelain, with Sèvres pink the main colour. With an overall dimension of 44.8 × 37.5 cm it was gifted by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1958, and is believed to be the vase in the ownership of Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé (where it formed a ''garniture'' with two of the famous elephant-head vases) and passed down after the French Revolution to Sir Charles Mills, Baronet and eventually to the Lords Hillingdon (in 1888). Notable marks include crossed Ls, and E. below, in blue on the underside with the factory mark and year letter.


Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...
, UK

"Soft-paste porcelain, bleu lapis and green ground overlaid with gilded œil-de-perdrix decoration, further gilding and gilt bronze", with interlaced LLs enclosing the date-letter F, c. 1758/9. Dimensions, excluding stand, 45.2 × 37.8 × 19.3 cm. In 2017 it was in the Green Drawing Room of
Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a royal official residence, residence in London, and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and r ...
. Acquired by George IV, the vase in the Royal Collection is the largest of the three models of this shape produced at Sèvres, and is decorated with two ground colours, green and dark blue. The front reserve depicts a genre scene taken from an unknown source, inspired by David Teniers the Younger (1610–90). The ends of the vase are in the form of a bowsprit, projecting from the jaws of a marine head, and at the masthead is a fluttering white pennant, patterned with fleurs-de-lis. The vase was purchased in 1759 at the end-of-year sale at Versailles by Madame de Pompadour for 960 livres. Madame de Pompadour is known to have owned at least three examples of this model (including those now in the Louvre and Royal Collection); these formed important components of her sumptuously appointed apartments.


Wallace Collection The Wallace Collection is a museum in London occupying Hertford House in Manchester Square, the former townhouse (Great Britain), townhouse of the Seymour family, Marquess of Hertford, Marquesses of Hertford. It is named after Sir Richard Wall ...
, London

Acquired by Richard Seymour-Conway, the 4th Marquess of Hertford, by 1865, and possibly from the collection of Marie-Gabriel-Florens-Auguste, comte de Choiseul, known as Choiseul-Gouffier, this is the third of the ship-shaped vases designed by Jean-Claude Duplessis père (active 1748–74) in the 1750s. The naval theme is emphasised by the faceted bowsprits in the mouths of the marine masks and is a reminder that at this time the French navy was involved in the
Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...
(1756–63). The Wallace Collection example dates from 1761, composed of
soft-paste porcelain Soft-paste porcelain (sometimes simply "soft paste", or "artificial porcelain") is a type of ceramic material in pottery, usually accepted as a type of porcelain. It is weaker than "true" hard-paste porcelain, and does not require either its hig ...
, is painted and gilded, and is 44.1 × 36.9 cm.


Frick Collection, New York

Green and blue colours, birds in trees in the main panel. Sèvres Manufactory vaisseau à mat pot-pourri vase in the shape of a masted ship (one of a set of three), ca. 1759. Porcelain, soft paste. 17-1/2 in. × 14-7/8 in. × 7-1/2 in. Purchased by the
Frick Collection The Frick Collection (colloquially known as the Frick) is an art museum on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was established in 1935 to preserve the collection of the industrialist Henry Clay Frick. The collection (museum) ...
in 1916.


Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...
, Los Angeles

Genre scene on the front with flower garland on rear. Painting attributed to Charles-Nicolas Dodin, porcelain painter, about 1760. Soft paste porcelain, pink and green ground colors, polychrome enamel decoration and gilding. H: 1 ft. 2 3/4 in. × W: 1 ft. 1 11/16 in. × D: 6 13/16 in.Sassoon, 49–56; Getty


Notes


References

*Sassoon, Adrian, ''Vincennes and Sèvres Porcelain: Catalogue of the Collections'', 1992, Getty Trust Publications, , 9780892361731
google booksFrick page on their example
accessed 5 January 2016 (refining search needed)
Getty page on their example
accessed 5 January 2016
Louvre page on their example
accessed 5 January 2016
Metropolitan page on their example
accessed 5 January 2016
Royal Collection page on their example
accessed 5 January 2016
Waddesdon Manor page on one of their examples
accessed 5 January 2016
Walters page on their example
accessed 5 January 2016 {{DEFAULTSORT:Sevres - Pot-pourri Vase Porcelain of France Rococo art Ceramics in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Objets d'art in the Louvre Collection of the Walters Art Museum Artworks in the Royal Collection of the United Kingdom Collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum Objects in the Wallace Collection Individual pieces of porcelain Objects in the Frick Collection Waddesdon Manor Individual vases Collections of the National Trust