Here's a wonderful 19th century faience (earthenware) soup tureen, Soupier, with a fine French sterling silver collar (Minerve marks) and a green underglaze maker mark noting "J. Vieillard & Cie, Bordeaux", as maker. I've been using this one, it's so wonderful, but ready to let it go now. With everyone loving white pottery and porcelain for dinnerware these days, I'm sure it will find a home quickly. Large size, you'll have fun serving informal to formal soup course with this elegant antique. The old mark and maker helps us to date this one between 1829 and 1895, when that firm stopped production. This mark is the earliest mark for that company.
Very good condition for age and type. There are no breaks, no cracks, no chips on the base, and one very small rim chip on the lid. There are surface crazing lines here and there. The most notable area of imperfection is on one side where the old pottery darkens a little, whether from heat or who knows what. You can see that area in our photo, and just above that, you will see the very small chip on rim of lid, too. All handles are firm, not broken, not repaired. Still, I carry it by the base rather than by handles just due to the age and weight. A really wonderful old one, mid-1800s.
