Antique French olive oil decanter - "Bonbonne saintongeais" - light green glaze 11"

This delightful 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 the old province of Saintonge in western France. It has a short, narrow neck, originally closed with a cork stopper, and a handle on the side. A lovely addition to a collection of antique French pottery. 

Likely made in La Chapelle-des-Pots, a commune in south-western France, in the Charente-Maritime department, in the heart of the Saintonge region. As early as the thirteenth century, pottery ateliers 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: pockets of clay, the presence of numerous watercourses in the Coran valley and wooded forests. 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 19th 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.

Note photos to observe a few minor chips.