This large and imposing vase was among eighty-nine pieces of Sèvres porcelain bequeathed with a collection especially rich in eighteenth-century French decorative art by John Jones in 1882. As the handbook to the Jones Collection stated in 1883: "Suddenly ... a collection has been given ... which contains the very objects so much to be desired, and, as it seemed a year ago, so hopeless of attainment." A military tailor who made his fortune during the Crimean War, Jones (1799-1882) started collecting seriously in the 1850s, sharing a taste for luxury objects of the ancien regime with aristocratic collectors such as the fourth marquess of Hertford and Sir Richard Wallace (founders of London's Wallace Collection), John Bowes, and Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild.

The Royal Manufactory of Sèvres specialised in exceptionally luxurious objects, many destined for the French court. Capable of startling innovation, the factory produced a constantly evolving repertoire to suit the changing tastes of its clients. Sèvres porcelain was admired and collected by the royal, noble and wealthy elite throughout Europe, and was also became widely imitated.

Regarded as one of the highlights of Jones's collection this vase was illustrated as the frontispiece to the catalogue written by the curator William King, published in 1924. Apart from its large size, the vase represented an important example of porcelain from a royal factory being used as a diplomatic gift between monarchs; in this case from King Gustav III of Sweden to the Empress Catherine II of Russia. Acting on the Swedish king's behalf, the writer Jean-François Marmontel, acquired a group of three vases and two biscuit groups from the Sèvres factory to commemorate the signature of a treaty of armed neutrality between the two countries in 1780. If you look carefully it is possible to read an inscription on the open book lying on top of the barrel to the centre right of the painted harbour scene commemorating this event: it reads; 'neutralité armée 1780. CatherineII. Gustave III'. How it came to leave the imperial collections is not known although it is now believed that it was probably stolen with items from the Empress's Sèvres service from the Hermitage during the famous fire of 1837. It was subsequently in the Demidoff Collection at the Palazzo San Donato in Florence, from where it was sold by auction in March 1880, lot 469. The sum paid for this vase at the San Donato sale was 31,000 francs.

William King, Catalogue of the Jones Collection, II, Ceramics, ormolu, goldsmiths' work, enamels, sculpture, tapestry, books, and prints (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1924)