Pair of Vases (Pots Pourris à Bobèches)

Description

These multi-functional vessels served as both candleholders and room fresheners. Potpourri or burning pastilles were inserted at the foot of each vase, and the perfume was released through the intricate piercing along the sides and the bulblike projection between the candleholders. The resulting scent created the illusion that the porcelain flowers atop the vases were alive.

Pair of Vases (Pots Pourris à Bobèches)

Jean-Claude Duplessis

c. 1759

Accession Number

135716

Medium

Soft-paste porcelain, polychrome enamels, and gilding

Dimensions

1994.371.1: 24.2 × 15 × 8.9 cm (9 1/2 × 5 7/8 × 3 1/2 in.); 1994.371.2: 24.8 × 15.3 × 8.9 cm (9 3/4 × 6 × 3 1/2 in.)

Classification

vase

Museum

The Art Institute of Chicago

Chicago, United States

Credit Line

Joseph Maier and Arthur Lewis Liebman Memorial: Gift of Kenneth J. Maier, M.D.