One of a Pair of Potpourri Vases (Vase pot pourri feuilles de mirte)

Branches of myrtle leaves and ornamental scrolls adorn the sides of this vase and its mate (48.590), which are covered with a pale turquoise ground color. The presence of myrtle leaves could allude to an ingredient of the potpourri that was meant to fill the vases.

The scenes painted on the center of each vase are attributed to Charles-Nicolas Dodin and are adapted from Chinese sources—possibly Cantonese enamels, Chinese porcelain, or paintings on silk. The juxtaposition of the exuberant and quintessentially French shape of the vases (called rocaille: an 18th-century style characterized by shell-like, rock-like, and scroll motifs) with the Chinese-inspired decoration calls attention to the translation that has taken place between different media and cultures.

These vases were likely part of a set (called a garniture) purchased by Madame de Pompadour in 1762 and match a Sèvres clock in the Musée du Louvre.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.

Marquise de Pompadour; Etienne-Francois de Choiseul-Stainville, duc de Choiseul (1719-1785) [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Sale, Paris, February 18, 1793, no. 338 [as recorded by Ennès 1997, pg.77]; Collection of E. Chappey, Paris [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Collection of E. Chappey Sale, Paris, May 1907, no. 1106; E. M. Hodgkins Collection, Paris, no. 3 [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; A. Seligmann, Rey and Co., New York; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1928, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.