Getty Museum

Pair of Potpourri Vases (potspourris Pompadour, troisième grandeur)

Date

1756

Medium

Soft-paste porcelain with underglaze blue, lead glaze, enamel and gilding

Culture

French

Department

Decorative Arts

Institution

Getty Museum

Delicate scents of potpourri once escaped from the holes pierced in the lids and shoulders of these vases. Containers for potpourri first appeared in the 1700s in France, made from precious metals, porcelain, lacquer, or hardstones; recipes for their sweet-smelling contents were soon prevalent. Jean-Claude Duplessis, the artistic director of the Vincennes Manufactory, probably designed the vases, which were named *pots-pourri Pompadour* in honor of Madame de Pompadour. In 1745 she became Louis XV's mistress and a great patron of the factory. The dark blue ground color, invented only three years before this pair was made in 1752, was notoriously difficult to fire. Though not admired in its day, its uneven, textured appearance is greatly favored today. The painter, Jean-Louis Morin, based the putti scenes on designs by François Boucher.

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