Talking Flask Nevers 18th Century White Travel Flask Blue Earthenware Boy Flask

NEVERS 18th century - earthenware gourd tonnelet marked BOY, blue decoration

Rare small Nevers earthenware tonnelet, glazed white and marked "BOY" in cobalt blue, to be read as a popular invitation to drink, in the spirit of late 18th century Nivernais talking earthenware.

The piece adopts a beautiful flattened barrel shape, mounted on a small oval foot, with upper neck, tubular pouring spout and side piercings allowing a cord to pass through. The decoration, deliberately simple and spontaneous, combines the central inscription "BOY" with stylized plant motifs in blue, characteristic of a popular Nevers production.

This type of gourd-tonnelet belongs to the vein of talking earthenware objects, at once utilitarian, decorative and deeply rooted in 18th-century French material culture. The object seduces by its immediacy: a naive form, a legible use, a tasty inscription, and this freedom of the brush proper to the old popular productions.

Good general condition. Wear from use, small chips, pitting and visible firing defects, particularly on the edges, spout and neck. String probably posterior. See photos.

Dimensions: approx. 12.5 x 12.5 cm; height: 10 cm.