Potpourri jar

Manufactory Louis Poterat Manufactory French
ca. 1690–95
Not on view
Porcelain was highly prized in seventeenth-century Europe, and the popularity of imported Chinese and Japanese porcelains led to various experiments in France to produce porcelain domestically. The French were skilled at making faience (tin-glazed earthenware), but the ingredients for true or hard-paste porcelain—as produced in Asia—were not known to French potters at this time.

The most successful experiments in producing an artificial porcelain, known as soft-paste, were carried out in small faience factories in Saint-Cloud and Rouen. The Saint-Cloud factory eventually was able to manufacture soft-paste porcelain on a viable, commercial scale, but the production of soft-paste in Rouen remained on a very limited and experimental basis.

This pot pourri is one of the very few surviving examples of Rouen porcelain. None of the porcelain made in Rouen bears a factory mark, so the attribution to Rouen is based on the style of the decoration and on the noticeably bluish cast of the glaze, which appears to be a common characteristic of Rouen porcelain.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Potpourri jar
  • Manufactory: Louis Poterat Manufactory (French, early 1690s–1696)
  • Date: ca. 1690–95
  • Culture: French, Rouen
  • Medium: Soft-paste porcelain decorated in underglaze blue
  • Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 5 x 5 x 5 in. (12.7 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm)
  • Classification: Ceramics-Porcelain
  • Credit Line: Gift of R. Thornton Wilson, in memory of Florence Ellsworth Wilson, 1950
  • Object Number: 50.211.186
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.