This late 18th-century French porcelain soup tureen was made at the Arras factory circa 1780 and is hand-painted with delicate cornflower sprigs in the distinctive deep blue enamel known as Bleu d’Arras.
Small cornflower sprigs are painted with a fine brush and spaced across the creamy white porcelain ground.
Cornflowers were a favored naturalistic motif of the Louis XVI period, reflecting the late 18th-century French taste for botanical ornament.
The tureen is beautifully shaped, with a softly domed lid and an elegant branch-form finial that complements the naturalistic decoration.
The rim follows a gently scalloped line highlighted with a fine blue band, while molded handles complete the rounded form.
The restrained decoration allows the rich Bleu d’Arras enamel and the creamy porcelain ground to stand out clearly.
The Arras manufactory was founded in the 1770s by the Delemer sisters and remained in operation for only about twenty years.
During that brief period, the factory became known for elegant porcelain forms and for the distinctive blue enamel associated with its production. Surviving Arras porcelain is comparatively scarce.
The underside of the tureen bears the “AR” mark together with the flying bird device used by the Arras porcelain factory.
Dimensions: 10.25″ diameter x 9″ height
Condition: Excellent, with several small original kiln-origin firing cracks along the outer edge of the cover, created during manufacture and not affecting the strength or stability of the porcelain.
Decoration: Hand-painted cornflower sprigs in Bleu d’Arras blue
Material: Porcelain
Style: Louis XVI
Origin: Arras, France
Date: Circa 1780