The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 24, 2025

Potpourri Vase with Cover

c. 1750

Mennecy Factory

(French)
manufacturer

Vincennes Porcelain Factory

(France, 1740–56)
France, Vincennes
soft-paste porcelain
Overall: 17.2 x 15.9 x 10.5 cm (6 3/4 x 6 1/4 x 4 1/8 in.)
The Norweb Collection 1966.233
Location: 216A French and German

Did You Know?

This style of potpourri vase, a pot atop a rockwork base, was popularly produced by major 18th-century porcelain factories including those at Vincennes, Chantilly, and Saint-Cloud.

Description

The delicate flowers that cover the lid and base of this vase draw inspiration from the schneeballblüten, or guelder rose, pattern produced at the German Meissen porcelain factory. The flowers on the lid are spaced by small, unobtrusive perforations that allow the scent of the potpourri, a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices placed inside this vase, to disperse.
  • R. Henry Norweb, Cleveland, Ohio.
  • Chaffers, William, and H. M. Cundall. The New Keramic Gallery. London: Reeves and Turner, 1926. p. 339
    Freǵnac, Claude. Les Porcelainiers du XVIIIe siècle franca̧is. Paris: Hachette, 1964. p. 132
    Emerson, Julie, Paul Macapia, and Pamela Meidell. The Collectors, Early European Ceramics and Silver. Seattle: Seattle Art Museum, 1982. p. 46, no. 58
    Dallot-Naudin, Yvonne, and Alain Jacob. Porcelaines tendres françaises: Rouen, L. Poterat, St-Cloud, Mennecy, Chantilly, Bourg la Reine, Vincennes. Paris: ABC Collection, 1983. p. 103
    Kevill-Davies, Sally. "18th-Century Porcelain Pot-Pourri Vases." Antique Collecting (June 1998).
    Peyre, Jean-Gabriel. "Porcellane in 'gloria': La manifattura di Villeroy-Mennecy (1735-1777)." CeramicAntica (October 2000). p. 17
  • {{cite web|title=Potpourri Vase with Cover|url=false|author=Mennecy Factory, Vincennes Porcelain Factory|year=c. 1750|access-date=24 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1966.233