Antique Minton Pate-Sur-Pate Cup and Saucer, by artist Albion Birks

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About the Item

This rarely available Minton pate sur pate cup would make a wonderful display item or addition to a collection. The cup contains a 22-karat gold outlined heart-shaped pate sur pate plaque, rendered with white slip on a blue background, featuring a cherub indulging in wine, in one hand he holds a wine cup, in the other a wine flask. The backdrop shows a meandering potted vine. The body of the cup features a design of raised 22-karat gold dots and circles on an ivory backdrop, this pattern is called "oeuil de perdrix" which means "partridge's eyes" in English. The bottom features a brown wave-like border with gilt edges. The matching saucer displays a pate sur pate rondel of musical instruments set on a matching brown wave-like gilded ornament of six points. Near the foot of the cherub is the signature "AB" for Albion Birks, the last Minton pate-sur-pate artist to apprentice under the legendary Louis Solon. A similar cup was part of the Minton Museum collection. Pate-sur-pate is a French term meaning "paste on paste". It is a method of porcelain decoration in which a relief design is created on an unfired, unglazed body by applying successive layers of white slip or liquid clay with a brush. While the effect is somewhat similar to other types of relief decoration, unlike Jasperware, for which Wedgwood is famous, a mold is not used, and the artist is able to achieve translucency. The pate-sur-pate technique was developed in France. The technique was perfected at Minton by Louis Solon, a former Sevres artist. References: A cup of the same design featuring an "exhausted cherub" is shown both on page 213 of "Minton the First 200 Years of Design and Production" by Joan Jones and on page 96 (Lot 223) Bonhams, "Masterpieces of Minton", July 23, 2002. Albion Birks has pieces in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, that can be seen on their website. Measures: Cup Diameter 3 inches at the top, 1 3/4 inches at the bottom, Width including handle 3 1/2 inches, Saucer diameter 5 inches.

Creator:
Albion Birks (Artist),Minton (Manufacturer)
Dimensions:
Height: 3 in (7.62 cm)Diameter: 5 in (12.7 cm)
Style:
Neoclassical (In the Style Of)
Materials and Techniques:
Ceramic,Gold,Burnished,Hand-Painted
Place of Origin:
England
Period:
1890-1899
Date of Manufacture:
1890
Condition:
Excellent.
Seller Location:
New York, NY
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU4641216390992

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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.