Garden Urn

CC0 Public Domain Designation

Applied Arts of Europe

c. 1665–1685

Nevers, France

This large urn was intended for display in an aristocratic French garden. Groups of tin-glazed earthenware urns and pots, such as those produced at Nevers in central France, were an important component of seventeenth-century formal garden design in France. They were most notably used in the grounds of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV (reigned 1643-1715).

The production of tin-glazed earthenware (also known as faience), was established in Nevers in the late sixteenth century by immigrant Italian ceramicists working in the maiolica tradition. It took on a patriotic significance during the reign of Louis XIV, when the king issued Sumptuary Edicts that encouraged courtiers and members of the nobility to melt down their precious metals in order to replenish the national treasury. This, in turn, prompted a demand for tin-glazed earthenware replacements. The abstract decoration on this garden urn is characteristic of the Nevers potteries. Known as à la boujie for its similarity to the effects of dripping wax (boujie is French for ‘candle’), the deep blue ground was also evocative of lapis lazuli and the precious carved marbles and hardstones that appealed to court taste. The combination of blue and white also aligned with the prevailing fashion for imported blue and white Chinese porcelain, and its European imitations.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Applied Arts of Europe

Title: Garden Urn
Place: Nevers (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: c. 1660–1685
Medium: Tin-glazed earthenware
Dimensions: 63.9 × 48.3 × 30.5 cm (25 1/8 × 19 × 12 in.)
Credit Line: Purchased with funds provided by Mary Kathryn Hartigan and the Thomas W. Dower Foundation
Reference Number: 2022.477a-b
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/265812/manifest.json

Private Collection, France; sold to Camille LePrince, Paris, 2018; acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago, 2022.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.