Delicious scents of potpourri once escaped from the pierced holes around the shoulders of these bowls. Containers for potpourri first appeared in the 1700s in France, made from gold, silver, porcelain, or even glass; recipes for their sweet-smelling contents were soon prevalent. Fashionable women experimented with flowers and perfumes to achieve the finest fragrances, which were sometimes left to mature for up to nine years.

Glass mounted with gilt bronze is rare. Bronze casters were more usually commissioned to create decorative mounts for hardstone, porcelain, or lacquer pieces. The mounts of these bowls are in the Neoclassical style, fashionable in Paris during the 1760s and 1770s. The guilloche or chain pattern, the lions' heads with the rings in their mouths, and the laurel leaf swags were all popular ornamental motifs used during this period.