Vase with cover (vase B de 1780) (one of a pair)

Art Historical Context

This striking vase rises on a gilded square base, its soft-paste porcelain body glowing in a vivid turquoise blue. Gilt mounts trace the fluted foot and rim, while elaborate handles terminate in deer heads and frame an oval painted scene of figures in a landscape. A domed cover, edged in gold and topped with a pineapple finial, completes the elegant silhouette. Produced in 1782 by the Sèvres Manufactory, with decoration associated with Henri-François Vincent and Charles-Eloi Asselin, the vase belongs to a documented pair known as the “vase B de 1780.” It reflects the manufactory’s mastery of colored grounds and figural reserves, techniques that elevated French porcelain to the height of European court taste. Today in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art through the generous gift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1958, the piece invites viewers to admire both its luminous palette and the refined craftsmanship of eighteenth-century Sèvres.

About the Artist

Sèvres Manufactory|Henri-François Vincent|Charles-Eloi Asselin · 1740–present

The Sèvres Manufactory, one of Europe's premier porcelain producers, was established in 1740 as the Manufacture de Vincennes under the patronage of Queen Marie Leszczyńska, who sought to rival Meissen and Chantilly porcelains with French soft-paste innovations. Initially a private venture, it relocated to Sèvres in 1756 in a purpose-built facility designed by architect Laurent Lindet near Madame d...