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	Cake Plate Pattern No. 304 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Parrot Plate Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
Post - 1824 (please click on the thumbnails for a larger version)
The history of the 19th century is reflected throughout this company's ceramics... from the French artists who fled political upheaval on the Continent, to the radically new movements in art and design, all of which profoundly affected Victorian taste. After 1824, when Thomas Minton began making bone china in his own newly-constructed facilities, he again turned to the Continent for many of his shapes and decoration. The market demanded this, and Minton shrewdly obliged; and the superb quality of his china forecasted that this factory would be supreme in the 19th century. As Derby went into decline in the 1820's, many of its best artists moved to Minton and strengthened the already impressive work force. Names such as Steele, Bancroft and Hancock are in this ex-Derby group. Fortunately for collectors, from the 1820's onward, Minton's earthenware and especially `Felspar’ or `Stone China’ are often marked with a transfer-printed backstamp and, later, with impressed year cyphers. However, the better quality bone china tea, dinner, and dessert wares of the 1820's and '30's typically have only pattern numbers which started again at number one. Ornamental pieces were usually not marked until the 1840's.

Tea Service pattern No. 130 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
To attract the market, Minton adopted fashionable shapes and patterns. These five photos illustrate a typical tea service of the mid-to-late 1820's.

Cream Pot Pattern No. 352 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Trio Pattern No. 684 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Teapot Pattern No. 854 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
This cream pot, on the left, is another fashionable example, as well as the teapot in the `Bath Embossed’ shape which for many years was thought to be Rockingham.

Cup & Saucer Pattern No. 24 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Cup & Saucer Pattern No. 71 Cumming Collection Winnipeg Art Gallery	Cup & Saucer Pattern No. 262 Cumming Collection Winnipeg Art Gallery
In the 1820's, Minton began to make a new less-expensive body called “Felspar China” which continued into the 1840's. The addition of felspar gives a hard, durable, translucent white body that rings clearly when struck on the rim. It may also have had better firing characteristics. These examples are marked with a puce-coloured, transfer-printed backstamp, incorporating the words “Felspar China”, the letter “M” and the pattern number.

Dish Pattern No. 154 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Cup & Saucer Pattern No. 252 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Reverse of Saucer Pattern No. 252	Breakfast Saucer Pattern No. 1052 Cumming Collection Winnipeg Art Gallery
The middle class market wanted Chinese-type patterns and Minton obliged, right down to a pseudo-seal mark on pattern No.252. Many patterns in the 19th century followed the earlier Chinese influence and their 18th century English and Continental counterparts.

	Trio Pattern No. 2067 Cumming Collection Winnipeg Art Gallery	Plate Pattern No. 4994 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
An important innovation from the second quarter of the century, was the introduction of popular patterns which continued in production for many decades; some, like these two, for more than a hundred years. Known as "Chinese Tree" Pattern No. 2067 and "Indian Tree" Pattern No. 4994, they were mostly hand-painted at the beginning when only an outline was transfer-printed onto the pieces for the decorators to follow. As the decades passed, more and more of the design was transfer-printed until, by the 1930's, it became almost entirely printed. It's interesting to collect such patterns, to demonstrate this evolution.

Plate Bat Print Unmarked Cumming Collection Winnipeg Art Gallery	Tureen Stand Bat Print Unmarked Cumming Collection	Trio Bat Print Unmarked Cumming Collection	Two Plates Bat Print Unmarked Cumming Collection

Trio Bat Print Unmarked Cumming Collection
Minton used Bat-printing early in the post-1824 period, using both landscapes and floral prints. However, all the known examples are unmarked. A few shell prints were made, possibly re-using the copper plates which were engraved during the pre-1816 period.

Crater Urn Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Crater Urn (detail)	Flower Encrusted Vase Cumming Collection Winnipeg Art Gallery
By 1830, Minton had assembled a highly-skilled team of potters, modellers and decorators who were capable of turning out masterpieces, such as this crater urn, on the left. In the factory shape book, it was named Medicean Vase. Senior modellers, painters and gilders came from Derby which was in decline; these flowers are almost certainly painted by Thomas Steele. Steele left Derby in the early 1820's and spent a short period at the Rockingham Porcelain Works in Yorkshire before arriving at Minton. On the right is another example from the early 1830's. It has decoration which was popular at the time, but not often ascribed to Minton. It was identified from a shape book in the Minton archives which are a rich treasure trove of research material, containing many original watercolours by famous designers who provided shapes and patterns.

Trio Pattern No. 763 Cumming Collection Winnipeg Art Gallery	Oval Tray Unmarked Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Oval Tray (detail)
Landscapes were painted on tea services such as this one with `French’ shape cups, and on the oval card tray. Such pieces signalled the beginning of a fabulous period in Minton's history. The card tray landscape was painted by James Fernyhough who was active at Minton from the late 1820's.

Cup & Saucer Pattern No. 4556 Cumming Collection Winnipeg Art Gallery	Applique Mug Model No. 10 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Celadon Plate Pattern No. 1076 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Celadon Breakfast Cup & Saucer Pattern No. 1084 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
The Minton factory was now in full stride, showing the shrewd influence of Thomas's son, Herbert, turning out a vast range of products to meet various market demands. They also seriously began to sell into overseas markets, including North America. In following decades, the Mintons made many personal visits abroad, testing the market and appointing representatives. Exports to Canada included this mug with blue colouring added to the clay body, and applied white sprigging. Some had a brown body with white applied decoration. Of course, a number of factories made similar products, and identification can be tricky. But this range of Minton's wares often have a characteristic, applied, moulded pad on the bottom showing the shape number which can be checked against surviving records. Early in the 1830's, Minton introduced a range of celadon table wares, inspired by Chinese celadons. Perhaps they were not popular, or there were firing difficulties, as production appears to have been limited.

Tiles St. George's Hall Liverpool	Bread Plate Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Font Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
Herbert Minton got together with Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, leader of the Gothic Revival to rediscover the production secrets of medieval tiles. This took many frustrating and costly years to succeed, but what success! New floors were designed for cathedrals and public buildings, including the Palace of Westminster, and the Capitol buildings in Washington. Other designs from antiquity were adopted, culminating in this magnificent floor in St. George's Hall, Liverpool, completed in 1854. It required over 20,000 encaustic tiles. Minton tiles covered floors and walls for the balance of the century, from middle class fireplaces, to the new South Kensington Museum (which became the V&A), and even Queen Victoria's dairy at Frogmore near Windsor Castle. The plate, in the centre, designed by Pugin, incorporates the same encaustic technique as the floor tiles. The 12" high portable font, on the right, in salt-glazed stoneware is based on the medieval font in St. Mary's church, Nottingham. Minton produced this design, and one other, in a range of sizes down to one that would fit into a pocket. It epitomizes Victorian fascination with the medieval period.

Shakespeare Tile Cumming Collection	Bisque Figure Hannah More Cumming Collection
Later, wall tiles were decorated with under-glaze coloured prints, based on themes from Shakespeare's plays. In the 1830's, Minton had begun producing figures in an unglazed, bone china body, called bisque. This crisply moulded figure of Hannah More may well have been modelled by one of the artisans attracted from Derby. Portrait busts were also popular. However, the absorbent nature of the bisque body is easily stained and soiled; a problem in sooty drawing rooms. A more practical material was needed, and experiments added felspar, resulting in a hard, unglazed body known as `parian’. At first, some of the earlier moulds for bisque figures were also used for parian, but new ones were soon created. These figures became very popular in Victorian England and were to be seen in every household. A wide range of wares was made from figures and portrait busts, to jewellery, and even tableware.

Side Plate Pattern No. G386 Cumming Collection Winnipeg Art Gallery	Cup & Saucer Ermine Mark Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate Pattern No. G2022 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Cup & Saucer Ermine Mark Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
Just as the late 18th century upheavals on the Continent spurred on the development of bone china in England, events in the mid-19th century again fostered a revitalization of the Potteries. When unrest broke out in France in 1848, a number of leading French potters and painters fled to England. Leon Arnoux, who was born in 1816 into a well-established pottery family and trained at Sèvres, toured the English potteries. He was captivated by Herbert Minton and stayed on at Minton to energize what many consider to be it's finest half century. He was soon joined by several leading artists from Sèvres who entered Minton's art and design departments. This strong Sèvres influence was seen immediately on Minton's finest china, and it continued into the early 20th century. Arnoux invented a new oven, improved Minton's china body, and developed new colours and glazes. He introduced majolica, Henri Deux ware, and many other innovations. Decorated by Kirkby, the cup above on the right, is egg-shell thin with a wonderful translucent body, beautiful painting and raised gilding, perfectly demonstrating Arnoux's improvements. It carries the `ermine’ mark used for Minton's best china in the period, and no pattern number.

Plate Newcastle Pierced Unmarked Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate Newcastle Not Pierced Pattern No. 4009 Cumming Collection Winnipeg Art Gallery	Cake Stand Newcastle Pierced Pattern No. 8800 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate Newcastle Pierced No Pattern No. Cumming Collection
This shape, known as `Newcastle’, was made in both pierced and unpierced versions. It was used on many dessert services for the domestic market, and was popular in North American market over several decades.

Majolica Peacock Potteries Museum Stoke-on-Trent	Coutts Lindsay Plaque Gardiner Museum	Great Exhibition Plate No Pattern No. Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
English majolica was developed at Minton around 1849 by Leon Arnoux, and examples were included in the factory's stand at the Great Exhibition of 1851. The brilliantly coloured glazes caused such a stir that other factories were soon producing their own versions. Subjects from nature were especially popular, and Minton created a wide range of shapes including this life-size peacock, modelled by Paul Comolera in 1873, standing over four feet high. This example is now in the Potteries Museum at Stoke-on-Trent in England. Interest in Majolica wares continued for many decades, and every fashionable Victorian home had its examples. Minton made majolica tea wares in an amusing variety of shapes, including teapots shaped as monkeys and chinamen. The plaque painted with a scene of mermaids was designed by Sir Coutts Lindsay for Thomas Goode (London retailers), made by Minton and shown at the International Exhibition of 1862. It harks back to Italian Renaissance majolica. Herbert Minton strongly backed Prince Albert in the planning of the Great Exhibition of 1851 at the Crystal Palace in London, and he helped to overcome the initial lack of interest by many British industrialists. The resulting friendship with the Prince Consort certainly did the company no harm. A bone china plate like the one, on the right, was in Minton's stand at the Crystal Palace, and it caught Queen Victoria's approving eye. It became the model for a number of commissions, both for Royal residences and for gifts to the multitude of European relatives.

Royal Plate Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Royal Plate (detail)	Cup & Saucer Pattern No. G2744 Cumming Collection	Pattern No. G2744 (cup detail)
This plate in the Cumming Collection was made for a Royal service, commissioned for Edward, Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, on the occasion of his marriage to Princess Alexandra. Their initials are entwined in the central cartouche. The service is still in the Queen's Collection, at Sandringham. Research suggests that this example was an approval sample or a spare sent to Thomas Goode's in London in case of breakage during shipping from the factory, but not included in the service delivered to the Palace. Queen Victoria's patronage continued long after Prince Albert's death. The 1880 cup and saucer on the right is from a service commissioned, as a wedding present, for the marriage of Louise, daughter of Leopold II of Belgium, to Philip of Saxe-Coburg.

Lothian Plate Pattern No. G2078 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate Pate-sur-Pate Pattern No. H2410 Cumming Collection	Boullemier Plate No Pattern No. Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Boullemier Plate No Pattern No. Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum

Cupid/Centaur Vase Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
Not to be confused with pâte-sur-pâte, the plate on the left, painted in white enamels in the Renaissance Limoges Style, comes from a dessert service commissioned by the Marquis of Lothian. It is signed by the artist, Désire Leroy. Louis Solon, fleeing the Franco-Prussian War, left Sèvres and introduced pâte-sur-pâte into England, at Minton, in October, 1870. This technique requires the application of many successive layers of liquid slip onto a tinted background. It was time-consuming, expensive, and difficult to produce; but the results achieved at Minton were unequalled. In addition to decorating many masterpieces himself, Solon trained a skilled group of assistants, notably Rhead, Alboin Birks and his cousin Lawrence, Mellor, Sanders, Holland and Toft. The pâte-sur-pâte plaques on this plate, from 1912, were decorated and signed by Alboin Birks. The design with raised enameling, pearls, and tiny gold drops was created by Minton's then Art Director, John William Wadsworth who had been Solon's Assistant Art Director. Interestingly, it has a special transfer-printed backstamp for one of Minton's Paris retailers...coals to Newcastle! The influence of French artists at Minton is further exemplified by these portrait plates, painted and signed by Antonin Boullemier who moved from Sèvres to Minton in 1871. After a falling out with Colin Minton Campbell, Boullemier set up his own decorating studio, using blanks from Minton and other factories. These Minton examples are possibly from that period. The delightful little vase, on the right, from 1867, also shows its Continental ancestry. The English owner, knowing its importance, refused to sell it to anyone but a public institution. Needless to say, we were delighted when we were able to arrange its purchase for the Cumming Collection at the Gardiner Museum.

Plate Pattern No. G1091 Cumming Collection	Plate Pattern No.G1091 Cumming Collection	Plate No Pattern No. Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate Pattern No. G2031 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum

Plate Pattern No. G2031 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
Victorian interest in naturalist subjects is evident in these orchids painted by William Mussil. Minton's artists had access to the orchid house at Trentham Hall, near Stoke-on-Trent, and Mussil did many watercolours which he then transferred to china. Incidentally, when you find his work, the signature looks like Muppil which is the curious way he signed his name. Birds were also a favourite subject of the Victorians. The birds, in the centre, are named on the back of the plate. The 1874 plates, on the right, come from a dessert service, painted from engravings by J. Gould, in the book, Humming Birds of Australasia".

Coleman Plate Pattern No. C1118 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Coleman Plate Pattern No. C1118 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Colman Plate (reverse) Pattern No. C1118
William Coleman was a trained naturalist, etcher and illustrator; and a writer of natural history books. Coleman joined Minton in 1869 and, in 1871, he became Art Director at Minton's short-lived Art Pottery Studio in South Kensington. When the studio burned down in 1873, Coleman became Art Director at the factory in Stoke-on-Trent. He was paid the extraordinary sum of £200 for his "naturalist" series designs, registered in 1870, and was granted a special personal backstamp; high recognition for the time

Plate Pattern No. C986 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate Pattern No. G604 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
The woodcock design exemplifies the Victorian passion for wild game, and dinner ware was produced to match the course being served. Also shown is an example from a fish service.

Blancmange Mould Shape No. 31 Gardiner Museum	Blancmange Mould Shape No. 31 Gardiner Museum	Blancmange Mould Shape No. 40 Gardiner Museum
Blancmange was prepared in cream-colour earthenware moulds like these shapes, pattern No.31 (two views) and No.40. Actually, blancmange was produced throughout the 19th century, into the 20th, and was included in typically huge Victorian dinners. The shapes were intended to complement other items on the menu.

Beaker Vase Pattern No. 9969 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Cup & Saucer No Pattern No. Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate No Pattern No. Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate Pattern No. G246 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
The second half of the 19th century brought wave after wave of dynamic new ideas at Minton. This early Arts and Crafts Movement beaker vase design, on the left, by Richard Redgrave, was registered in 1851. The acorn cup and saucer, second from left, is one of many designs done for Minton by Christopher Dresser. This hand-painted, bone china dessert plate, second from right, is from an 1879 series of twelve, each different, featuring porcelain, brass, and glass containers from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The containers were designed by Edmond Reuter and the flowers by R. Pilsbury. The opening of Japan to the West, in the 1850's, brought new influences into both the applied and visual arts in England. Victorians were fascinated by the exotic, and this was reflected in many fields. The plate on the right has a mixture of Japanese in the centre, with added Victorian naturalist elements.

'Moon Flask' Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Vase Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
The vase on the right has a deliberate, well-controlled, underglaze crackle. The moon flask designed by Christopher Dresser, draws its inspiration from Eastern cloisonné and exemplifies the Asian influence, but interpreted in the superb style created at Minton. It, too, has controlled crackle under the surface glaze.

Plate Pattern No. P4743 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate (detail) Pattern No. P4743
Dated 1889, this plate combines stylized, oriental leaves and branches, with an excellent seascape. The quality of the painting underlines how the market does not fully appreciate ceramic art, since if this were an oil painting on canvas, it would fetch much more than the price of the plate.

Plate Aesthetic Movement Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate Aesthetic Movement (detail)	Plate Pattern No. G8332 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate No Pattern No. Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
Minton artists were in the forefront of the Aesthetic Movement, which dominated Victorian arts from the late 1860's to the late 1880's. It affected all aspects of design, and was particularly strong in ceramics, as evidenced in the plate on the left. At first, it looks off-balance, but closer study shows the skill with which the painter has placed the ancient Japanese Buddhist symbols, albeit in modernized form. Incredibly, it forecasts the work of 20th century artists such as Calder who became famous for his mobiles. Shifting market tastes and decorating styles are demonstrated by this moonlit scene signed by the painter, A.H. Wright. Equally dramatic is this dessert plate from 1903, on the right. Look at how the artist has placed the fire dragon and its 3-D appearance. Sadly, we do not know who painted this masterpiece.

Earthenware Plate Pattern No. 3514 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Plate Pattern No. 3517 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Secessionist Vase Impressed 3548 Model No. 46 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Breakfast Cup & Saucer Pattern No. C4971 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum

Plate Pattern No. C5011 Cumming Collection
The two designs, on the left, from a series between 1902 and 1905, were by Minton's Art Director, John William Wadsworth whose work was illustrated earlier. While this style is generally known as Art Nouveau, English potters and decorators decided to adopt the `Vienna Secessionist’ name. Art Deco designs, seen here on a vase, were introduced during Wadsworth's prolific term as Art Director. The cup and saucer and plate, on the right, date from the 1930's. Modern designs were continuously introduced up to the early years of WWII but production was increasingly diverted to the war effort.

Bread & Butter Plate Pattern No. H5078 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Coffee Cup & Saucer Pattern No. S709 Cumming Collection	Demi-tasse Coffee Can Pattern No. G8860 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum
After the war, new elegant designs were introduced. The plate on the left, from the 1946-1950 period, is from a service sold through Henry Birks & Sons Ltd., a Canadian retailer with their own special backstamp The coffee cup and saucer, in the `Antoinette' pattern, dates from 1963-1970. Minton's gilders re-established their reputation for superb gilding, exemplified by this demi-tasse coffee can, on the right, made in 1990.

Vase Post-1951 Cumming Collection Gardiner Museum	Vase (reverse side)
Floral painting again thrived as seen in this vase, signed by H. Malloy (?) (Signature not clear). THE END Sadly, Minton did not escape the difficult times of the 1990's in the Potteries which saw many companies collapse into bankruptcy. Amalgamation with Royal Doulton spelled the end of a company which had grown and prospered throughout the 19th century, and which had survived the ups and downs of the 20th. The Minton Museum was sold at auction. Royal Doulton, in turn, was acquired by Wedgwood and the future of the famous Minton archives is in doubt.
THE CUMMING CERAMIC RESEARCH FOUNDATON © 2002-2003. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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