Minton Wall Decorations

19th-century Victorian Majolica aqua oyster plate signed Minton.

19th-Century Victorian Majolica aqua oyster plate signed Minton.

On offer is a stunning set of four framed cabinet plates made by Minton in 1882. The plates are painted by the famous porcelain artist Antonin Boullemier and are framed in gilt Italianate Rococo scroll frames with velvet cartouches. Minton was one of the pioneers of English china production alongside other great potters such as Spode, Davenport, Ridgway, Coalport and others. They were located in Staffordshire and were known specifically for their wonderfully fine white bone china and bright colours; there is a colour called "Minton Blue" which is a fresh azure blue that was very fashionable during the Victorian era. Throughout the different phases of its existence, the factory made top quality creamware, porcelain, majolica and ultimately the finest parian porcelain. Minton excelled in their decorations and gilt work; these were often executed by artists who came from the Sèvres factory in France and brought their skills with them. The plates were decorated by the famous porcelain artist Antonin Boullemier, who was the son of a Sèvres porcelain decorator and was apprenticed and employed by Sèvres before moving the England in 1881, where he was employed by Minton. For many years he worked exclusively for Minton as one of their most celebrated artists; later on his career he started working freelance from his own studio at home for various factories. Boullemier is known for beautiful portraits, cupids and mythological subjects and both 18th Century and contemporary styles. These plates are decorated with charming scenes of a lady and the set may have been meant as depictions of the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. On the first plate you see a young girl standing in the fields, a vegetable garden with bean stalks in the background. It looks like a very British spring day; perhaps sunny but not very warm. On the second plate we see a lady in a dune landscape, the blue sea glittering behind the dunes in the background. The lady's cheeks are flushed - this is obviously a hot summer day. On the third plate you see the lady and a black and white dog in an autumnal forest, spotting a deer that seems to be about to run away. In true Boullemier style, the deer in the background is slightly hazy, creating a realistic mood of an autumnal forest. On the fourth plate we see the lady with a brown dog...

Minton Majolica tile which features an assemblage of fruit, flowers and leaves, including an apple, a lemon and a pinecone. Ribbons on either side. Colouration: turquoise, green, whi...

19th-Century Victorian Majolica aqua oyster plate signed Minton.

Minton Majolica Hanging Planter/Basket, the planter molded as a birds nest with red glazed cherries and green leaves, the interior glazed in turquoise, t...

19th century Minton's China Delft blue and white oyster plate. Japonisme Period.

19th-century Victorian green Majolica oyster plate signed Minton.

19th-century Victorian Majolica aqua oyster plate signed Minton.

19th-century Victorian Majolica aqua oyster plate signed Minton.    

English Arts & Crafts Minton pottery tile designed by Christopher Dresser, late 19th century, featuring Art Nouveau / Aesthetic Movement lily of the valley floral motif, the tile rev...

Pair of Minton Majolica Wall Brackets, Modeled as a Girl and Boy Baby Merchildren, each wearing a wreath of bullrushes and wrapped in fishing nets against clumps of green glazed rushes. Impressed marks to reverse include the letter 'M' and Minton date cipher for 1859. In Susan Weber's three-volume tome, MAJOLICA MANIA, recently published by Yale University Press, Martin Levy discusses Royal Patronage of Minton majolica: "Though many of the items ordered by the queen and prince consort in the late 1850s have been dispersed, surviving examples in the Royal Collection include...a pair of wall brackets, each in the form of a merchild wrapped in fishing net, which was given to Queen Victoria by Prince Albert for her birthday in 1858." Additionally, Weber includes a photo from 2019 of an interior scene of the Royal Dairy at Windsor, which clearly shows the female bracket installed to the wall.* For 30 years we have been among the world's preeminent specialists in the finest antique majolica. Susan Weber, MAJOLICA MANIA: Transatlantic Pottery in England and the United States, 1850--1915. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2020, Vol One, p. 179. *Weber, Vol. One, p. 80. Sotheby's New York, English Majolica From a Private Collection, Sale number 6958, Lot number 159, March 11, 1997. Identical pair sold at Sotheby's but lacking the wooden wall shelves...