Vase with cover

Saint-Cloud factory

ca. 1690–1700 · Soft-paste porcelain · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This small globular vase is the surviving bottom half of what was known as a double gourd vase. It dates from the earliest years of the Saint-Cloud manufactory, the first in France to produce artificial or soft-paste porcelain commercially. The decoration in cobalt blue reflects the influence of imported Chinese porcelains, but the designs of arabesques and fantastic creatures is French in origin.

Artist

Saint-Cloud factory

Date

ca. 1690–1700

Medium

Soft-paste porcelain

Culture

French, Saint-Cloud

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of R. Thornton Wilson, in memory of Florence Ellsworth Wilson, 1950