Sèvres pot-pourri vase in the shape of a ship

Pot pourri à vaisseau or pot pourri en navire ("pot-pourri holder as a vessel/ship") is a shape of a number of pot-pourri vases in the shape of masted ships, first produced between the late 1750s to the early 1760s by the Sèvres manufactory near Paris. The colours and details of the painted decoration vary between examples, as is typical of Sèvres porcelain, and some examples have been placed on later bases of ormolu. The openwork lid lifts off to allow refilling of the pot-pourri. The shape was eventually produced in two or three versions, at slightly different sizes. It was first designed in 1757, probably by Jean-Claude Duplessis (c. 1695–1774), the artistic director of the factory. The first surviving finished example dates to 1759. Another name for them is vaisseau à mat (masted ship).

These vases are considered to be one of the most famous models introduced by the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres; patrons such as Madame de Pompadour and her brother the Marquis de Marigny collected the form. Among the largest vessels produced by the factory, these vases were extremely difficult to fire; the 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.

The shape derives from the nef, a table decoration in the form of a ship, usually of precious metals, used since medieval times. The arms of the City of Paris also showed a ship, and the vases may reflect this. The vase would have held potpourri used to perfume a room. Eighteenth-century ladies made their own, experimenting with various ingredients and sometimes blending essences for as long as nine years. The vases were made to be sold with other vases of different shapes to form a garniture to place on a mantelpiece or side table. The main background colours in different examples range from pink to green and dark blue, and the subjects of the main painted spaces from naval subjects after Dutch painting to chinoiserie genre scenes.

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