Friday, January 29, 2010

Antique Terminology: JARDINIÈRES AND CACHEPOTS


Jardinières and cachepots are both meant to hold "posies" (e.g., flowers) but they differ slightly.

A jardinière (pronounced "zhar din NYAIR") is an ornamental stand or large container for plants and/or flowers.

Here's a 19th c. French stone jardinière:

A cachepot is a kind of tabletop version of a jardinière but with
a twist: it's pronounced "CASH poe" and is an ornamental
container used to conceal and hold a flower or plant pot.

So it's typically smaller than a jardinière and sits on a tabletop,
mantel, shelf, etc.

Here's a painted tole (pronounced "toll" and means painted
tinware) cachepot:

Here's an image of my favorite jardinière, this one an 18th
century Louis XV piece:


And here's a decorative wrought iron one:

Note how these jardinières are plant stands that sit on the floor.

Compare this with the cachepots shown below-they're smaller
and primarily meant to hide an unsightly flower pot on a surface
like a table.

Here's a pretty cachepot that's cloisonne (pronounced "CLOY
zun nay"and meaning enamel inlaid and fired between thin
metal strips):


This one is ceramic and in the Northern Italian taste:

And here's a pair of 19th century Imari cachepots:


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

your explanation of jardinaire was very helpful.