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Pot-pourri vase and cover: C.28 & A-1961

An image of Pot-pourri vase

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Titles

Pot-pourri vase and cover

Maker(s)

Factory: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Painter: Méreaud, Pierre-Antoine

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain pot-pourri vase and cover, painted in enamels with stylised flowers, leaves and shell motifs around each opening, and gilded.

Soft-paste porcelain, thrown, pierced, painted in blue, green, yellow, pale pink, dark pink, and maroon enamels, and gilded. The ovoid vase stands on a circular pedestal foot. The ogee domed cover (a replacement) has a sloping rim, and a cylindrical flange fitting inside the neck of the vase. The finial is in the shape of a double pink on a stalk with two buds and four leaves. The shoulder and the dome of the cover are each pierced by six anthemion- or fan-shaped openings. The dome of the cover has a pink and blue pointillé ground. The step has a bleu nouveau ground enriched with fine irregular gold lines. The finial is heavily gilded overall; the edges of the openings are outlined in gold and there is a band of gilding round the outer edge. The shoulders of the vase have a similar pink and blue pointillé ground and the openings are similarly outlined in gold. Immediately below and divided from it by a line of gilding, the main field of the vase is on a slightly higher level. The part immediately below the line is decorated between the openings above with a stylised flower or oval patera motif in shades of dark pink and maroon, on a bleu nouveau and gilt ground. Below this are swags of red roses hanging from yellow shell motifs placed beneath each of the pierced anthemions. Above the junction of the vase and foot there is a pink, maroon, and blue 'gadroon' pattern. On the foot there are stylised green palms and dark maroon flowers separated by triangular blue panels, and a border of alternating ovals and smaller circles between gold bands.

Notes

History note: Uncertain before Louis C.G. Clarke, Cambridge

Legal notes

L.C.G. Clarke Bequest, 1960

Measurements and weight

Diameter: 13.5 cm
Height: 25 cm

Place(s) associated

  • Sèvres ⪼ Îsle de France ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1960) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray

Dating

18th Century, Mid#
Louis XV
Production date: AD 1765

Note

This vase is a variant of the pot-pourri Pompadour; Savill's version C of the third size h. 22.8 to 26.5 cm. See Documentation, Savill, 1988. The cover appears to be a replacement.

School or Style

Rococo

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamels ( blue, green, yellow, pale pink, dark pink, and purple) gold
Foot Diameter 10 cm
Cover Diameter 9.9 cm
Vase

Materials used in production

Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Lead-glazing

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: interlaced L's enclosing M

  • Location: On underside of foot
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Factory mark
  • Text: S
  • Location: On underside of foot, above factory mark
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Painter's mark

Inscription present: the M and the 5 are virtually illegible

  • Text: MERAULT/1765
  • Location: On underside of foot
  • Method of creation: Hand-written in black ? ink
  • Type: Inscription

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.28 & A-1961
Primary reference Number: 93565
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 5 January 2021 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Pot-pourri vase and cover" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/93565 Accessed: 2024-11-15 06:43:36

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/93565 |title=Pot-pourri vase and cover |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-15 06:43:36|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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