Marchand mercier Lazare Duvaux’s Livre-journal [Accounting journal] from 1748 to 1758 provides evidence of their high value: on December 17, 1750, the Marquise de Pompadour bought two potpourri-shaped vases in truitée porcelain, trimmed in ground gold ormolu, for a total of 1,200 livres; on April 22, 1757, the Duc d'Orléans purchased a set of mounted crackle-glazed vases, comprising a large vase, two large potpourris and two bottles, for the considerable sum of 2,960 livres. Louis XV's perfume fountain at the Château de Versailles (inv. V 5251.1) is probably the most famous example of crackle-glazed porcelain. This truité celadon mounted on rocaille bronzes is the only piece of Chinese porcelain clearly identified as having belonged to the sovereign. In fact, it was the addition of the water-themed bronzes that transformed the original Chinese vase into a fountain in the true sense of the word, although this function was never actually performed, as the mounted porcelains served only as ceremonial objects, with a few rare exceptions. For example, the pair of ewers with satyr masks shown here were probably not intended for serving wine, as their shape and vocabulary would suggest, but as a decorative element, probably placed on a mantelpiece or console table. A set with a Louis XV mount, consisting of a pair of ewers and a porcelain vase crackled like the one studied here, is in the Musée du Louvre (inv. OA 5496 1, inv. OA 5496 2 and OA 6053).

Throughout the 18th century, exceptional pieces were entrusted to the expert hands of the greatest artists – often thanks to prominent marchands merciers – who created mounts of extreme refinement. With greater resources than most craftsmen, these merchants were able to acquire precious objects in rare, exotic materials such as hard stone, porcelain, ivory, coconut, petrified wood and mother-of-pearl. These materials were used to create unique artifacts that combined porcelain, Far Eastern lacquer, French varnish, and gilt bronze.

The presence of “cordes à puits”, laurel wreaths and ewer handles evoking Greek frets, all elements borrowed from the vocabulary of Antiquity, directly link this porcelain set to Neoclassicism.