Antique French olive oil decanter - Bonbonne saintongeais - large, dark green glaze 15¼"

This delightful large green glazed earthenware decanter from the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century was used for olive oil. Known as a Bonbonne saintongeais in French, this piece was handmade in Saintonge region of France. It has a short, narrow neck, originally closed with a cork stopper, and a handle on the side. Likely made in La Chapelle-des-Pots, a commune in south-western France, in the Charente-Maritime department, in the heart of the old Saintonge region. A lovely addition to a collection of antique French pottery.

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History of pottery in the Saintonge region:

As early as the thirteenth century, pottery workshops renowned for their green glazed products were established in this wooded region of Saintonge. The specialization of this area and the surrounding villages in pottery is explained by the abundance of raw materials essential to the manufacture of ceramics: numerous woods, pockets of clay and the presence of numerous watercourses in the Coran valley. Around 1320, the numerous potters built a chapel (destroyed, then replaced in 1786 by the present-day Saint Front church). Ceramic craftsmanship in La-Chapelle-des-Pots slowed down towards the middle of the nineteenth century, in the face of competition from industrial production in northern countries and changing regulations. Since 1954, with the establishment in the village of the Atelier René Renaud and in 1961 of the Poterie Jean Alexiu, there has been a return to continuous ceramic production.