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

Description 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.

Conservation

Examined in preparation for exhibition.

Cleaned in preparation for exhibition.

Date	Description	Narrative
8/18/2015	Examination	Examined
8/19/2015	Treatment	Cleaned

Exhibitions

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

Provenance 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.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1928