Kolekcja | 25.09.2015 A pot-pourri is a vessel with an openwork cover, containing fragrant substances, which produce a pleasant aroma. This was the function fulfilled by two wooden cups covered with red lacquer and placed in an egg-shaped wooden container; they were brought over to Europe from the Far East. In about 1750, French workshops specialised in creating decorative objects from elements made - similarly to the lacquer vessels – for a different purpose. At times they were composed in such a way as to become an incense burner, an inkwell, a candlestick or a clock.
In order to render the planned item even more valuable and attractive, branches or bouquets with colourful flowers executed in soft porcelain from Vincennes-Sèvres were added, figurines from the most acclaimed manufactory in Meissen were used as supplements, and the whole composition was placed on a base meticulously engraved in gilt bronze. The resultant exhibits were sophisticated albeit, as a rule, small items, which in the second half of the eighteenth century were appreciated by prosperous buyers.
Barbara Szelegejd