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4 Minton for Tiffany Pâte-sur-Pâte Signed Alboin Birks Plates, Raised Gilding

About the Item

An elegant and wonderful find featuring the pinnacle of porcelain artistry. This complete set of 4 Minton, England for Tiffany’s Pâte-sur-pâte luncheon or dessert plates decorated by the legendary Alboin Birks dates to 1923 – the height of the Gilded Age. Pâte-sur-pâte is French for “paste on paste” a technique by which delicate, translucent and ethereal figures can be sculpted onto porcelain by painstakingly building up layer after layer of thinned porcelain slip until the figure emerged. A process of painting in three dimensions that no one did better than Minton and Birks, their master artisan who spent 50 years with the company. These were created just a decade before he retired, and four years before the Great Depression ended much of the market for such elegant porcelain. Each plate features elaborate hand-tooled raised paste gilding featuring Minton’s signature beaded swag and classical detailing on a cream ground. Three pâte-sur-pâte cameos on a celeste blue ground adorn each plate and each cameo is individually signed by Alboin Birks. Pâte-sur-pâte was the flagship of the great porcelain manufacturers. Few did it as well as Minton – none better. A museum quality set like this comes up for sale rarely, and to find a complete set of 4 in such pristine condition is an incredible find.

Creator:

Minton (Manufacturer)

Dimensions:

Height: 1 in (2.54 cm)Diameter: 8.9 in (22.61 cm)

Sold As:

Set of 4

Style:

Greco Roman (In the Style Of)

Place of Origin:

England

Period:

1920-1929

Date of Manufacture:

circa 1923

Condition:

Wear consistent with age and use. Very Good Antique Condition.

Seller Location:

West Palm Beach, FL

Reference Number:

1stDibs: LU1727213736711

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Minton

Pottery is one of the oldest decorative art forms, and Minton is one of its historical masters. For more than 250 years, the English company was a premier producer of porcelain and ceramic wares. Its factory was known for detailed and brightly colored Victorian tableware, including dinner plates and serving pieces.

Thomas Minton founded the Minton factory in 1793 in Stoke-upon-Trent, England. It initially made earthenware but introduced bone china in 1798. When Minton died in 1836, the company passed to his son, Herbert Minton. The younger Minton was a savvy businessman with an eye for design. He introduced glossy majolica earthenware to the factory’s repertoire and hired skilled artists and designers like Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Albert-Ernest Carrier-Belleuse, boosting the company’s reputation.

In 1851, Minton debuted its majolica at the Great Exhibition in London. It became a royal family favorite and was even used to tile the Royal Dairy at Windsor Home Park. Minton majolica was also displayed on the monumental Saint George and the dragon fountain at the 1862 London International Exhibition.

Colin Minton Campbell, a nephew of Herbert Minton, took over the family business in 1858. He led the company to the head of the 1870s English art pottery movement. In the 1890s, French porcelain artist Marc-Louis Solon helped modernize Minton with his Art Nouveau designs.

Minton ceased operating as an independent company when it merged with Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd. in 1968. It was the end of an era, but not the end of widespread appreciation for Minton ceramics.

In 1982, the ”English Majolica” exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum featured 75 Minton pieces. When the Metropolitan Museum of Art reopened its British Galleries in 2020, it included a display of three colorful Minton majolica bird sculptures. Minton pottery was also on display from September 2021 to January 2022, along with other English pottery, at the Bard Graduate Center’s ”Majolica Mania” exhibition.

On 1stDibs, find exquisite Minton serveware, decorative objects, wall decorations and more.