Found in a private collection in Provence, where Simon welcomed Sylvie into his bastide to take her pick, this 18th-century French faience piece is what was called a pique-fleurs, or flower brick. The pierced top is the purpose: each hole holds a single flower stem, so a handful of sweet peas or anemones can be arranged with each one standing on its own. The two small handles meant it could travel from room to room, and the octagonal shape was a popular silhouette in 18th-century southern French pottery. The glaze has crazed and the corners have softened from being used, washed, and used again over two hundred years. Sylvie places it on a kitchen counter with stems cut from the garden, on a bedside table with one good rose, or down the middle of a dining table with sweet peas in every hole.
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