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A vase like this 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, as manufactories experimented with forms, surface ornamentations, and placement of perforations.
France, Saint Cloud, 18th century
soft-paste porcelain
Overall: 15 cm (5 7/8 in.)
Did you know...
Prior to Saint-Cloud's development of soft-paste porcelain in the 1690s, rumors spread throughout Europe that the prized material was made by burying a variety of materials, including lobster shells, in the ground for eighty years.
The Norweb Collection