Potpourri vase (pot-pourri à vaisseau) 1758 Sèvres Manufactory French These three vases (, b–.91) were originally accompanied by two additional vases to form a set, or garniture, that was one of the most extraordinary and expensive garnitures produced at Sèvres during the eighteenth century. The boat-shaped vase, known at the factory as a pot-pourri à vaisseau or a pot-pourri en navire, would have occupied the central position in the grouping flanked by the two elephant-head vases (vase à tête d’éléphant) and two vases with ear-shaped handles (vase à oreilles) now at the Musée du Louv
Potpourri vase (pot-pourri à vaisseau) 1758 Sèvres Manufactory French These three vases (, b–.91) were originally accompanied by two additional vases to form a set, or garniture, that was one of the most extraordinary and expensive garnitures produced at Sèvres during the eighteenth century. The boat-shaped vase, known at the factory as a pot-pourri à vaisseau or a pot-pourri en navire, would have occupied the central position in the grouping flanked by the two elephant-head vases (vase à tête d’éléphant) and two vases with ear-shaped handles (vase à oreilles) now at the Musée du Louvre, Paris.[1] The garniture is remarkable not only for its originality of the vase forms but also for its novel and extremely highquality body of the center vase is in the shape of a boat with marine masks at both ends and truncated bowsprits emerging from the mouths of the masks. The lid, which is formed from shrouds or rigging that alternate with pierced panels to represent sails, is a separate upper section of the vase that includes a pennant descending from the masthead.[2] The form of this remarkable potpourri vase evolved from two earlier vase shapes made at Sèvres,[3] but the concept—a vase in the form of a boat with sails—was entirely new. The design for the pot-pourri à vaisseau is attributed to Jean-Claude Duplessis (Italian, ca. 1695–1774), the creative head of the sculpture workshop at Sèvres who was responsible for many of the factory’s most innovative designs. This model of potpourri vase was first produced in 1758, and the Museum’s example is one of the first created.[4] The lid in the form of sail rigging must be one of the most technically challenging designs made at Sèvres, based on the extensive and intricate perforations incised in the clay while only partially dry. If successfully executed in this so-called leather-hard state, the lid could have been damaged, or it could have collapsed during the firing due to frag
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