Potpourri vase (pot-pourri gondole)

Sèvres Manufactory

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The French royal manufactory at Sèvres became the most influential and prestigious porcelain factory in Europe in the second half of the eighteenth century. Its products were characterized by innovation in both form and decoration, and by a consistently high level of technical skill. These qualities are evident in the complex pierced design of the cover and shoulder of this gondola-shaped vase, in the rich turquoise ground color, and in the detailed painted and gilded decoration. Designed to hold potpourri, this vase was first owned by Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV and an avid patron of the Sèvres factory.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art