12 minute read
COLLECTED WORKS
by Dales Life
Minton Pottery
ome ceramics manufacturers are renowned for a single, instantly recognisable style; others have a much more varied output. The Minton factory, for example, was a supremely competent all-rounder, capable of producing high quality work in a huge range of different styles.
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There are avid collectors for all categories of Minton’s pottery, according to Andrew Parker, Ceramics Consultant at Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn. But their most sought-after wares, he says, are the stunning majolica items they produced in the second half of the 19th century.
A glance at the cat-shaped jug illustrated here makes it clear why Minton majolica is so prized. With its exquisite modelling and lush glazes – along with the clever design in which the cat’s tail forms the jug’s handle – it’s no wonder this fantastic feline fetched £2,000 when it went under the hammer at Tennants a year or two ago. Pitchers at an Exhibition The Minton story begins in 1793, when the enterprising Joseph Minton set up his own pottery in Stoke-upon-Trent. The firm would go on to become one of Europe’s leading potteries, and it remained a family business until the mid-20th century, when it was absorbed by Royal Doulton.
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In the early years Minton made mainly earthenware tableware, but by the mid-1800s they had added encaustic tiles and a variety of sophisticated porcelain goods to their repertoire.
At the Great Exhibition of 1851 the company introduced a modernised version of the tin-glazed earthenware pottery of the Italian Renaissance – originally known as ‘maiolica’ but thenceforth styled ‘majolica’. With its vibrant colours, quirky designs and naturalistic modelling, majolica soon became immensely popular and Minton’s innovations were widely imitated.
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1: A Minton majolica jug modelled as a seated cat, circa 1875. Sold by Tennants for £2,000. 2: A pair of Minton porcelain and ormolu candlesticks, circa 1860. Sold by Tennants for £1,600. 3: A Minton majolica asparagus tray, dated 1871. Sold by Tennants for £130. 4: A Minton majolica game pie dish and cover, dated 1866. Sold by Tennants for £250. 5: A pair of Minton plates decorated with birds on a blue ground, circa 1870. Sold by Tennants for £800. 6: A Minton earthenware dessert service decorated with British birds, circa 1880. Sold by Tennants for £220. 7: A Minton punch bowl painted with a seascape border, circa 1920. Sold by Tennants for £150. 3
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Through the 1860s and 1870s Minton made an immense range of items in majolica, from vases and candlesticks to stick stands, planters, garden seats and monumental sculptural pieces – plus a dazzling variety of tableware, two examples of which are shown here.
The asparagus tray features a cradle of ceramic asparagus spears, and the game pie dish is decorated with an authentically deadlooking duck and rabbit. The latter is perhaps a little too macabre for most modern collectors; tureens featuring livelier animals fetch higher prices nowadays, says Andrew.
Whether or not you appreciate the subject matter, there’s no denying the skill with which both pieces, and especially the pie dish, are made. The body and cover of the dish have been formed in a mould, and the oak leaves appliquéed to create extra depth and interest. The delicate azure colour of the inside is typical of Minton – you can see the same glaze inside the magnificent cat jug. Backwards and Forwards There’s more to Minton than majolica, though, as you can see from the other lots illustrated here. But whereas in the case of majolica Minton was a leader and an innovator, much of the company’s other work – finely crafted though it is – borrows themes and techniques from elsewhere. At much the same time that Minton was developing its exuberant majolica wares, the factory produced the porcelain and ormolu candlesticks shown here. Here Minton’s craftspeople are unashamedly copying Continental pieces from a century earlier, adorning the extravagant rococo bases with a pair of rosy-cheeked 18th century children. Presumably this nostalgia was a sound commercial decision; majolica may have been a little too novel for some of their customers.
In the case of the pair of plates featuring delicately delineated birds on a sky-blue ground, made around 1870, Minton is looking back to Limoges enamels of the 16th century. Once again, very conservative in terms of taste, expensive to acquire at the time, and still eagerly sought by specialist collectors today.
A decade later we see Minton taking the same theme – crockery with pierced borders and painted birds – and adapting it to the prevailing taste of the time, in this instance the Aesthetic movement. Now instead of stylised birds and foliage we have real, identifiable British birds of the kind you might see in your garden, depicted together with foliage from recognisable trees and shrubs.
During the 20th century Minton continued to exhibit the same split personality that had characterised its operations all along: sometimes looking backwards, sometimes in tune with the times.
On the one hand the company’s pre-war ‘Secessionist Ware’ celebrated the design revolution spearheaded by Viennese artists like Klimt. Post-war, however, the company quickly settled into making pieces like the punch bowl depicted here. It’s a thoroughly safe, conventional item that combines swags and gilding harking back to the Regency period with top quality, but distinctly unadventurous, painting. Minton’s Golden Age had very definitely passed. For more information about Tennants Auctioneers or to arrange a valuation, visit tennants.co.uk or call 01969 623780.
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