Ewer (Pot à l'eau La Boissière)

This ewer was made in 1756, the year the French royal porcelain factory moved from Vincennes, just east of Paris, to Sèvres, just west of Paris. This piece, which would have been used with a wide bowl or basin to hold the water for washing one’s face or hands, is an example of a less common model ewer made in the 1750s and 1760s. A drawing of the form preserved in the Sèvres archives is inscribed with the title “pot à eau La boixiere” (La boixiere water ewer). The “La boixiere” in the inscription likely refers to Charles-François Grillard de La Boissière, who was a shareholder of the Vincennes / Sèvres factory, and whose name was given to at least one other shape as well (a milk jug). The nearly overlapping leaves or waves that create a dynamic line down each side of this ewer are molded and then have been picked out in blue enamel and gilding. The other decoration of groups of flowers and one butterfly were likely painted by Louis-Michel de St. Aubin, who worked at the factory 1754-58 and 1760-79. Two other examples this ewer form are in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (accession nos. 803-1882 and CIRC.126-1937).

Inscription

Provenance

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

Collection of William T. Walters, Baltimore, before 1889 [date and mode of acquisition unknown] [1]; by bequest to Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1894; by bequest to the Walters Art Museum, 1931.

[1]. This piece is visible in a photograph preserved in the Walters Art Museum Archives of a display of European porcelains in William T. Walters' home that was taken in 1889.