Lidded Bulb Vase (caisse à oignons)

Though the function of this vase was primarily decorative, its interior was once fitted with a tray to support flowering bulbs. When it held flowers, the pierced lid of the vase was not used. When there were no flowers, the pierced lid was replaced, and the vase could be used to hold potpourri. The Niderviller porcelain manufactory modelers invented this unusual Rococo shape. The factory's painters-perhaps the artist Joseph Deutsch, who may have left the initials J.D. painted on the front of the box-added the finely painted perspective view, floral garlands, and a local noble's coat of arms. The arms show that the noble was Grand Commander of the Teutonic Knights between 1758 and 1775.