Vintage French Zinc Watering Can from Chanteduc Gardens

A vintage French zinc watering can from the gardens at Chanteduc, Patricia and Walter Wells’s Provençal home, and one of four Walter gathered over the years. Patricia recalls, "Every time we went to the Carpentras brocante he would pick up another one!" Brocante means flea market. Gardening was central to their life between Paris and Provence, and finds like this lived beside the potager that nourished their cooking and teaching. Provenance Patricia and Walter Wells, Chanteduc. Part of their watering can collection is photographed on p.88-89 of The French Kitchen Cookbook, by Patricia Wells. Crafted in galvanized zinc, the can has an oval body with rolled ribs, a high arched handle that sits easily in the hand, a domed top with a fill opening, and a long tapered spout that lends the silhouette its poise. The surface reads soft grey with a chalky bloom and touches of warm russet at the base and handle. Decorative and pierced, it is not intended for watering but embodies the honest character of workaday design. Place it beside a potting bench with dried lavender, cluster it with other cans on a terrace, or use it indoors to hold garden scissors and twine for a measured note of French utility in any room or garden.