A handsome French transferware soup tureen -- known in France as a soupiere -- in white earthenware (faience), dressed in a blue-green floral transfer print that wraps gracefully around the body, the domed lid and the ornate scrollwork border band. Pieces of this type were staples of French bourgeois and farmhouse tables from the mid-19th century onward, produced in quantity by the great northern faience workshops and prized for their graphic, blue-on-white aesthetic that sits as naturally in a Brooklyn kitchen as it once did in a Normandy dining room.
The decoration centers on full, lush carnation bouquets rendered in a cool teal-blue, framed by a continuous band of rococo scrollwork at the lid join and at the foot. The domed lid is topped by a double-scroll handle with delicate blue accent marks; matching scroll handles flank the body on either side. The whole piece rests on a pedestal foot that gives it a confident, well-balanced presence -- equally at home displayed on an open shelf, used as a table centerpiece or filled with seasonal flowers or fruit for a classic French country arrangement.
Condition and patina consistent with age. Some light surface wear and minor glaze losses are visible along the rim join between lid and body, lending the piece an honest, well-used character appropriate to its years.
Approx. 11.8 in wide x 8.7 in tall (30 x 22 cm), handles included.
