Potpourri Frill Vase

Dateca. 1765

Maker Derby Porcelain Manufactory (1750-1784)

MediumSoft-paste porcelain

Dimensions1. OH with lid: 10 3/4"; OH without lid: 8"; Diameter: 6 3/4" 2. OH with lid: 11"; OH without lid: 8"; Diameter: 7"

Credit LineGift of Lois Wagner

Object number2014-37,1&2

DescriptionPair of Derby ovoid-shaped frill vases with pierced, domed covers and bird finials, pierced areas on the shoulders, applied flowers and mask head handles, painted in enamel colors.
Label TextVases of this type were used to hold dried flowers and herbs. Their shoulders and covers were pierced to allow the fragrance to permeate a space. Bands of leafy frills, which give these vases the other half of their name, are a design element that was first introduced at Meissen in 1748. Frill vases became very popular with English porcelain factories especially Bow and Derby.

Objects with multiple parts like these vases were assembled by repairers. Repairers were skilled craftsmen responsible for putting component parts of a vase or figure together, adding small hand-modelled components such as flowers and foliage, as well as adding the pierced decoration. An almost identical potpourri frill vase in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum is incised with the name Jonathan Boot and the date 1764. Boot is likely the name of the repairer who assembled that vase.
ProvenancePreviously owned by Lois Wagner