Minton’s works, at Stoke-upon-Trent, are now very extensive. Not only is porcelain made there in great variety, but earthen-ware and tiles largely.
The factory was established in 1791, by Thomas Minton. Some of the most elaborate pieces of porcelain-work are now made there. The mark is “Minton,” stamped on the pieces.
Fig. 153.—Copeland’s Jeweled Porcelain.
Among the principal artists in the Messrs. Mintons’ employ is M. Solon, formerly of Sèvres, who has produced some exquisite vases in pâte-sur-pâte—a method which consists in working, upon a dark body or paste, designs in a white or lighter paste. This, being semi-transparent, admits of delicate shading and modeling. This fascinating and finished style of work originated, so far as we know, in France, where some admirable pieces have been made, more perfect even than those by M. Solon. The vases by him, which were exhibited in Philadelphia in 1876, and which were sold to Sir Richard Wallace for six hundred guineas, have a deep olive-green body, upon which the figures seem floating, as if they had just appeared from the dark, or might at any moment sink into it. The mystery and strength of color no one can fathom or explain, nor can one at all put into words the ineffable satisfaction which one receives from such work as this. It is gratifying to know that two pairs of these vases were bought in this country—one by the Philadelphia Industrial Museum, and one by Henry Gibson, Esq., of that city.
The example which we engrave ([Fig. 154]) is from the collection of Messrs. Tiffany and Company, of New York. The ground is a luminous blue, the figures in a delicate white.