Vase Collection Madame de Pompadour -Louvre

The Vase Collection of Madame de Pompadour in the Louvre.

Madame de Pompadour was the mistress of King Louis XV of France. She was a fine art lover and I suppose she wrapped the King around her little finger, because she had an incredible porcelain collection, some of the finest in the world.

The first porcelain factory.

Together they found the first porcelain factory in the Sèvres region.  Her collections of vases are now on display in the Louvre. I did not spend much time in this section because I was pressured for time and there is a lot to see. But it is on the recommended list of the Louvre and I did enjoy this specific section. As I have mentioned in some of the other reviews, I would love to go back and spend more time there. I think you actually need 1 week just to discover the Louvre! Unfortunately this was one section where I couldn’t take pictures and I had to rely on some official pictures from the Internet.

Here are some of the collection items and a short history:

Coffee Grinder -Jean Ducrollay (c. 1708-after 1776).

It is an exquisite item made of three colours of gold. It was made by the jeweller and goldsmith Jean Ducrollay, who worked in Paris. The grinder is a fabulous reminder of the vogue for coffee-drinking in the 18th century and is a fine example of the outstanding objects d’art that Madame de Pompadour commissioned.

“Vessel” Pot Pourri – Jean-Claude Duplessis (circa 1695-1774) (Painted by Charles-Nicolas Dodin (1734-1803).

This “vessel” potpourri is in the shape of a ship with “Chinese” decorations on a pink background. This object, which was part of the mantelpiece furniture in the chamber of Madame de Pompadour at the Hôtel d’Evreux, is emblematic of the Rocaille style and the taste of the king’s “favorite” for “Chinese”-style decoration on a pink background.

Other important items are the following:

Pair of wall sconces – Jean-Claude Duplessis (died 1774)

This pair of porcelain wall sconces is very unusual because it has 3 different enamel grounds – blue, pink, and green. Each sconce consists of three curved branches decorated with leaves, typical of the Rocaille style. It was also part of the bed chamber of Madame de Pompadour in the Hôtel d’Evreux, where she kept them along with her mantelpiece ornaments.

Jean Romilly (1714-1796).

This clock was originally part of a furniture that comprised two “foliated” potpourris and two “second” pot-pourris. This five-piece ensemble was delivered to Madame de Pompadour for her château at Ménars. In a Rocaille style, the clock is adorned with a “petit verd” ground that was very much appreciated by Madame de Pompadour. The mechanism was fashioned by the Parisian clockmaker Jean Romilly (1714-1796) and the rest of the object is Sèvres porcelain.

Where:Louvre, Paris