The potpourri vase at the center of this three-piece set of porcelain is one of only a few objects of this kind in the world. It was created at the royal porcelain manufactory in Sèvres, a village west of Paris. This detailed and fanciful object in the shape of a ship rests on scrolled porcelain feet and sits on a gilded bronze base. The round bottom represents the ship’s hull. On each end, a projecting spar emerges from the mouth of a mysterious face. The openwork lid represents the ship’s sails. Atop the mast, a glorious white pennant covered with gold fleur-de-lis flutters in a suggested wind. The overall design, in green and blue, is highlighted in gold.
For all its whimsical imagery, this piece had a practical use. It was meant to hold potpourri—a mix of spices and floral petals, whose fragrance, diffusing through the perforated lid, would perfume an entire room.
The inventive design for this potpourri was created in 1757 by Jean-Claude Duplessis, the director of the Sèvres manufactory. This example is from 1759, the year Madame de Pompadour, the official mistress of King Louis XV, purchased her first potpourri ship.
By the same designer as the potpourri are the two vases ‘à oreilles’ (literally, with ears) that flank it. Together, these three works were meant to be showcased on a mantel or a piece of furniture, in a grouping that was called a garniture.
Pot-pourri à Vaisseau
The highly original design for this pot-pourri à vaisseau (potpourri in the form of a ship) was created in 1757, most likely by the Sèvres manufactory’s artistic director, Jean-Claude Duplessis. The piece can be dated to about 1759, the year that Sèvres began producing potpourri ships of this size (initially, they were smaller). The painters and gilders responsible for its decoration juxtaposed grounds of apple green and dark blue, the latter enriched with gold in a caillouté (pebble-like) pattern. The colorful imagery and exotic birds on the front and back reserves are by Louis-Denis Armand l’aîné (act. 1745−88), a prominent artist who specialized in painting birds and landscapes. Armand also painted the birds on two related vases à oreilles in The Frick Collection. Gold, the use of which was exclusive to the Sèvres manufactory, is generously applied along the contours of the piece to emphasize its bold shape.
J. Auriol. Hon. G. Byng, M. P., Wrotham Park. Alexander Barker. Earl Dudley. Frick, 1916.
Sources:
Porcelains in The Frick Collection: Oriental and French. Volume VII. New York: The Frick Collection, 1974. Vignon, Charlotte. The Frick Collection Decorative Arts Handbook. New York: The Frick Collection/Scala, 2015.
