Box by Saint-Cloud Porcelain Manufactory

Saint-Cloud Porcelain Manufactory

1730–1740

Soft-paste porcelain with glaze and enamel, Soft-paste porcelain, Enamel

J. Paul Getty Museum

The small box is imaginatively conceived to look like an object that has been wrapped by a piece of fabric gathered at the top and tied in a double knot. The ornament of stylized leafy blooming branches delicately colored in blue, green, yellow, and orange enamel is slightly raised echoing the effect of embroidery. It is the only known piece of this shape and is a particularly sophisticated example of polychrome ware made at Saint-Cloud. The floral pattern extending over the joint between the base and the lid is characteristic of continuous designs found on East Asian ceramics and lacquer. Indeed, the conceit recalls furoshiki, the