The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 18, 2024

Potpourri Vase

Potpourri Vase

1860–80
blanc-de-chine porcelain; gilt bronze mount
Overall: 20.2 x 21.3 cm (7 15/16 x 8 3/8 in.)
Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley Collection Gift 2020.200.1.a
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Potpourri vases always have holes in the top to let the scent of dried spices and flowers contained within freshen the air around them.

Description

This vase--part of a pair of covered vases--was created to contain potpourri, a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices emitting ambient fragrance. This specific function offered a particularly fertile ground for the development of French porcelain from the mid-1700s, as manufactories experimented with forms, surface ornamentations, and placement of perforations. Produced by the firm of Edmé Samson in the 1800s, the vases pay homage to this history. While using updated technique and material, as well as more exuberant decorations, these vases draw upon designs by earlier innovators such as the Saint-Cloud manufactory.
  • by 1996
    Levesque Père & Fils, Paris, France
    1996
    (Levesque Père & Fils, Paris, France, sold to Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley)
    1996–2020
    Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH
    2020
    Nancy F. and Joseph P. Keithley, Cleveland, OH, gifted to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    2020–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Impressionism to Modernism: The Keithley Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 11, 2022-January 8, 2023).
  • {{cite web|title=Potpourri Vase|url=false|author=|year=1860–80|access-date=18 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2020.200.1.a