Tureen with Cover and Underplate, "Madame de Pompadour (née Poisson)" soup tureen with platter

Cindy Sherman used images of herself in the guise of Madame de Pompadour—a famous courtesan and one of the mistresses of King Louis XV—for this reinterpretation of a Rococo tureen. Madame de Pompadour a tastemaker in her time and an active collector of porcelain. Here Sherman puns on Madame de Pompadour’s maiden name—Poisson, which is French for fish—by including a playful image of writhing fish ensnared in a net of pearls that decorates the interior of the tureen.

Cindy Sherman created this Limoges porcelain tureen and stand after the original design commissioned by Madame de Pompadour in 1756, at the Manufacture Royale de Sèvres. Sherman's image of herself as Madame de Pompadour has been transferred onto porcelain through a complex process requiring up to sixteen photo-silkscreens. Sherman produced limited editions of twenty-five each in the traditional 18th century Sévres colors of apple green, rose, royal blue, and yellow.

2010 Likeness: Portraiture from the Photography Collection Portland Art Museum

2014 Feast and Famine: The Pleasures and Politics of Food Portland Art Museum