Lidded Bowl

The fragrance of potpourri once escaped from the pierced gilt-bronze mounts forming a band around this bowl. Containers for potpourri first appeared in the 1700s in France, made from precious metals, porcelain, lacquer, or hardstones; recipes for their scented contents were soon prevalent. Hardstone vases mounted with gilt bronze were extremely desirable during the later decades of the 1700s in France. Objects that evoked foreign lands attracted French aristocrats; the hardstone from which this vase is made, called porphyry, came from Egypt.