This 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 most important French porcelain factory was founded in 1740 in the royal chateau of Vincennes. In 1756 it was transferred to Sèvres, on the other side of Paris, and shortly after was bought by Louis XV. The support and protection of the king and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour, enabled it to secure the best artists, sculptors, designers and chemists. Sèvres porcelain soon became the most sought after in Europe.

This practical flower vase was made in two parts, the upper part could be filled with earth and used for growing bulbs as their roots could grow down through the holes in its base and take up water poured into the pierced lower section. When bulbs were out of season, it could be used for fresh flowers or for porcelain flowers mounted on painted metal stems, thousands of which were made by the factory. This shape was always known as 'hollandois' (Dutch) at Vincennes/Sèvres as it was probably inspired by contemporary Dutch bulb pots made in tin-glazed earthenware. When it was made, it probably had a pair with matching decoration, or may have been one of a set of three vases of the same shape, the central one being taller and wider. The model was first introduced in 1754 in three sizes (this example is the second size) and was so popular it was still being made in 1790s.

The different elements of this vase, its undulating form, the pink ground colour, the enamelled decoration of a sweet Cupid emblematic of 'Love' and flowers, edged with gilded flowers, leaves and scrolls, all together epitomise the rich, decorative Rococo style of the Louis XV period in eighteenth century France.