Green-glazed Earthenware Covered Pot, Pré-d'auge Or La-chapelle-aux-pots, 17th Century

An ornamental covered terracotta pot with a bulbous body resting on a fluted pedestal, featuring an applied decoration of anthropomorphic mascarons with sun-like faces and stamped foliage; the lid is adorned with a frieze of scallop shells.

Glaze in shades of green reminiscent of pottery from northwestern France, between the Beauvais region and Normandy (Pré-d’Auge). The object bore an old handwritten label attributing it to La-Chapelle-aux-Pots and the 17th century.

While the geographical origin remains uncertain, several elements support this dating, such as the break in the lid revealing a layered, grainy reddish-orange clay body, the vitrified slag embedded on the rim of the neck, and the rough trace of the wheel mark visible at the center of the cone beneath the footring.

Old chips in the relief decorations on the body; the upper handle of the lid is missing; an old chip on the inner rim of the lid (invisible when the lid is in place); glaze cracks and normal wear and tear.