Ewer (c. 1540–67): Art, History and Details

Ewer (c. 1540–67) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Saint-Porchaire (French).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

An example of one of the most extravagant wares of this kind, this ewer is decorated with applied masks and frogs as well as a variety of stamped and inlaid designs. The shape and patterns reflect the metalwork of the time—the final period of this artistic pottery.

Object facts

• Title: Ewer
• Date: c. 1540–67
• Creator attribution: Saint-Porchaire (French)
• Culture: France
• Type: Ceramic
• Technique: lead-glazed, white-paste earthenware with inlaid slip decoration
• Dimensions: Overall: 35.6 x 13.7 cm (14 x 5 3/8 in.)
• Collection: Decorative Arts
• Department: Decorative Art and Design
• Accession number: 1953.363

A detail from the museum

The green tree frog was one of the symbols of French King Henri II, indicating that this ewer may have either been made for the king or one of his courtiers.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Foote, Helen S. "Saint-Porchaire Pedestal Dish and Ewer." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 42, no. 2 (February 1955): 23-27. Published as: Saint-Porchaire Ewer.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.