Delicate peony blossoms and scrolling vines twist across this porcelain vase, their raised edges catching the light. Samson’s 19th-century copy refines St. Cloud’s 18th-century chinoiserie, yet the hard-paste glaze betrays its later origin—how might the scent of dried roses have escaped these precisely pierced holes?

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https://clevelandart.org/art/2020.200.2

Discover the unique history of the #PotpourriVase at #ClevelandMuseumofArt! Before soft-paste porcelain's 1690s creation, did Europeans truly believe lobster shells were buried for 80 years? 🤔
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https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.360.2.a
Potpourri Vase France, Saint Cloud, 18th century | Cleveland Museum of Art

A vase like this was created to contain potpourri, a mixture of flowers, herbs, and spices emitting ambient fragrance. This specific function offered a particularly fertile ground for the development of French porcelain, as manufactories experimented with forms, surface ornamentations, and placement of perforations.