This exquisite pot-pourri vase in the collection of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, is one of only ten remaining of its kind in museums in Europe and the USA. When the JASNA AGM is held in Baltimore in October, 2025, participants will have a chance to see it on display there.
According to Wikipedia, the "Pot pourri à vaisseau or pot pourri en navire ('pot-pourri holder as a vessel/ship') is the shape used for a number of pot-pourri vases in the form of masted ships, first produced between the late 1750s to the early 1760s by the Sèvres manufactory near Paris." Below, the reverse side of the vase.
According to Wikipedia, the "Pot pourri à vaisseau or pot pourri en navire ('pot-pourri holder as a vessel/ship') is the shape used for a number of pot-pourri vases in the form of masted ships, first produced between the late 1750s to the early 1760s by the Sèvres manufactory near Paris." Below, the reverse side of the vase.
"The difficulty of firing such a fragile piece with "multiple openwork piercings in the body weakened the overall structure, and they tended to collapse in the kiln. Consequently, only about twelve were ever produced, ten of which survive today." Below, the three similar vases we saw at Waddesdon Manor, the Rothschild Collection in Buckinghamshire, UK, recently.
The vases were designed to hold dried herbs and spices to perfume the air of rooms. Below, one of the ships on display at Waddesdon between a pair of Sèvres porcelain vases and below the oil painting "of five players of the commedia dell'arte shown in half-length..." from the Waddesdon collection, by Jean Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) executed in 1719.
We have accounted for four of the remaining ten ships and we can find some others pictured on the web. Below, left, cupids adorn the version in the metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, "designed by Jean-Claude Duplessis...dated about 1757–58...is believed to (have been) the vase in the ownership of Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé; right, from the Louvre, Paris, another pink version "by Jean-Claude Duplessis (c. 1695–1774), painted by Charles-Nicolas Dodin (1734–1803), c. 1760 ...with a chinoiserie scene in the main panel, after a painting by Francois Boucher...once in the bedchamber of Madame de Pompadour at the Hôtel d'Évreux, which is today the Elysee Palace. Please click on the pictures for larger versions.
Above left, with later addition of a gilt-bronze base: from The Frick Collection, New York City.
Right, "acquired by George IV, the vase in the Royal Collection is the largest of the three models of this shape produced at Sèvres...and depicts a genre scene...inspired by David Teniers the Younger (1610–90). The ends of the vase are in the form of a bowsprit, projecting from the jaws of a marine head, and at the masthead is a fluttering white pennant, patterned with fleurs-de-lis...purchased in 1759 at Versailles from Madame de Pompadour (who is known to have owned at least three examples of this model (including those now in the Louvre and Royal Collection)."
Right, "acquired by George IV, the vase in the Royal Collection is the largest of the three models of this shape produced at Sèvres...and depicts a genre scene...inspired by David Teniers the Younger (1610–90). The ends of the vase are in the form of a bowsprit, projecting from the jaws of a marine head, and at the masthead is a fluttering white pennant, patterned with fleurs-de-lis...purchased in 1759 at Versailles from Madame de Pompadour (who is known to have owned at least three examples of this model (including those now in the Louvre and Royal Collection)."
From the website of Waddesdon Manor: "Pot-pourri vase in the shape of a masted ship, the cover (extensively pierced) resembling sails and rigging and with a pennant attched to the top of the mast. On four scrolling feet. Bleu céleste ground colour with a battle scene on the front; the back decorated with flowers..." The form is attributed to Jean-Claude Duplessis (c.1695-1774). It was acquired by Ferdinand de Rothschild in 1861 and bequeathed to the National Trust in 1957.
Below, the back of the vase shown above. Because the vases were most often displayed in front of a mirror, the backs were painted as beautifully as the fronts.
Below, the back of the vase shown above. Because the vases were most often displayed in front of a mirror, the backs were painted as beautifully as the fronts.
Just a wee bit of browsing images on the web will show you hundreds of exquisite and elaborate Sèvres porcelain vases and figurines, among the most prized of decorative objects in the world. Waddesdon Manor exhibits many, as do stately homes, palaces, and museums, but apparently none more renowned than the fragile Pot pourri à vaisseau or pot pourri en navire (pot-pourri holder as a vessel/ship). Enjoy!
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