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

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

Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (French, active 1756 - present) (Manufacturer)
Jean-Claude Duplessis le Père (French and Italian, ca. 1695-1774) (Designer)
Charles Nicolas Dodin (French, 1734-1803) (?) (Decorator)
ca. 1761
soft paste porcelain with enamel and gilding
(18th and 19th Centuries )

Branches of myrtle leaves and ornamental scrolls adorn the sides of this vase and its mate (48.591), 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. 2 [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.

Exhibitions

2016 Madame de Pompadour, Patron and Printmaker. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
1997 Un défi au gout: 50 ans de création à la manufacture royal de Sevres (1740-1793). Musée du Louvre, Paris.
1995-1996 Going for Baroque. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1984 The Taste of Maryland: Art Collecting in Maryland 1800-1934. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore.
1980 Vincennes and Sèvres Porcelain in the Walters Art Gallery. The Frick Collection, New York; Washington Antiques Show, Washington.
1959 Age of Elegance: The Rococo and its Effects. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore.

Conservation

Date Description Narrative
8/18/2015 Examination Examined in preparation for exhibition.
8/18/2015 Examination Examined
8/19/2015 Treatment Cleaned in preparation for exhibition.
8/19/2015 Treatment Cleaned
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Geographies

France, Sèvres (Place of Origin)

Measurements

Overall with lid H: 11 3/4 × W: 6 3/4 × D: 5 3/16 in. (29.9 × 17.1 × 13.2 cm); Vase H: 9 7/16 × W: 6 3/4 × D: 5 3/16 in. (24 × 17.1 × 13.2 cm); Lid H: 2 11/16 × Diam: 2 15/16 in. (6.9 × 7.4 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters, 1928

Location in Museum

Hackerman House at 1 West Mount Vernon Place: First Floor: Conservatory

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

48.590

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Related Objects

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

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

Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (French, active 1756 - present)
ca. 1761
view details
Image for Pair of Potpourri Vases (Vases pot pourri feuilles de mirte)

Pair of Potpourri Vases (Vases pot pourri feuilles de mirte)

Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (French, active 1756 - present)
ca. 1761
view details

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600 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD
21201

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410-547-9000

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