when button-making ceased at Stoke.”
In August, 1845, Mr. Michael Daintry Hollins joined Mr. Minton in the general manufacturing business; and the tile department formed a separate concern, under the style of Minton, Hollins, & Co. Mr. Hollins was a nephew of Mr. Minton’s deceased wife (who was Miss Hollins, of Shelton,) and had been educated for the medical profession. In 1846, Mr. Samuel Barlow Wright, son of the original patentee, was admitted to a share in the business of the tile works, under the style of Minton, Hollins, and Wright. The patent of Mr. Wright was for fourteen years, and was renewed for seven years in 1844. At that period the works continued to be conducted at a loss, and but a small amount of business was done. It may be safely asserted that during the entire existence of the patent, so far from profit being the result, Mr. Minton had sacrificed many thousands of pounds to perfect the manufacture; to say nothing of the extraordinary liberality of his gifts of tiles. In other hands the manufacture might have proved a pecuniary success at an earlier period; but Mr. Minton was lavish in his expenditure in adopting every mechanical or other improvement—hydraulic presses under Prosser’s patent, Napier’s steam hammer, &c.—that promised further success.
Figs. 244 to 246. Minton’s Vases.
Figs. 247 and 248.—Minton’s Majolica.
Previous to the year 1848, the only process of printing which had succeeded for the decoration of pottery, was the one from engraved copper-plates. In this process all the lines that form the picture are cut into the metal, and these lines were filled in by the printer with the required colour, which had previously been mixed with boiled oil. The impression was then taken on tissue paper, at the ordinary copper-plate printing press, and from the paper transferred to the ware. In that style the picture or ornament was formed by a succession of lines, so that it was almost impossible to produce an even layer of colour, so desirable in flat-surface ornamentation. In 1848, Messrs. Collins and Reynolds, who had for some years carried on in London the business of decorative and picture printers, submitted to Mr. Minton some trials they had made of transferring to pottery impressions taken on paper from the flat surface of metal or stone, instead of from the engraved lines; and by that process broad and flat layers of colour could be produced, and several colours transferred at the same time to the ware. These first-trials were made with ordinary pigments; and, therefore, only served to show the power of transferring the impression from the paper to the ware. Mr. Minton perceived at once that the process would, in all probability, prove of advantage, and supplied the proper enamelling colours for further experiments. It was now found, however, that these colours were much more difficult of management than the ordinary pigments. This arose from their being mixed with so large a proportion of glass, which necessitated the use of stronger oils to carry the colour; and this again caused the colour, when of sufficient strength, to blister in the kiln. Mr. Minton was not, however, discouraged; and, believing that the difficulties would ultimately be overcome, he joined the experimenters in taking out a patent for the process. The patent is dated the 14th March, 1848, and is entitled “for improvements in ornamenting china, earthenware, and glass.” The difficulties so early encountered were very long in being overcome; months, and even years, of disappointment and loss followed, and it was only after innumerable trials had shown what particular oils and of what strength were required for different colours, that the obstacles were finally surmounted, and the process established as an additional and improved means of mechanical decoration. The process was applied to the decoration of earthenware and china generally, both useful and ornamental; but has proved to be more successful with flat surfaces. It was at an early period applied to ornamenting glazed tiles, and quickly supplanted the old and more expensive method of ground-laying. Mr. Pugin was the earliest patron of these tiles, and introduced them into the new palace of Westminster; the walls of the smoke-room of the House of Commons being the first instance of their use. Numerous specimens were shown at the Exhibition of 1851, and again at Paris in 1855, on which occasion the inventor and manager (Mr. Alfred Reynolds) obtained a first-class certificate. And here it should be remarked that Messrs. Minton took every opportunity of bringing before the Jury the merits of those in their employ, whom they considered deserving of distinction for the service they had rendered to them. There is now a very extensive trade done in these tiles, which are very beautiful and every variety of design. They are applied to wall decoration generally, also to hearths, the sides of fire-places, the making of flower boxes, and to a variety of other useful and ornamental purposes. In this improvement both beauty and cheapness are combined. To speak of the merits of these, even briefly, would occupy a chapter; it is sufficient to say that they are of every possible variety of design—floral, geometrical, mythological, historical, and otherwise,—and that the combinations of colours and the arrangement of the patterns give them a brilliancy all their own. Later on the partnership with Mr. Hollins terminated, and that gentleman continued the manufacture of encaustic and other tiles. (See page 213.)
Of the variety of productions of Minton’s works in former, and at the present times, it is impossible to speak in detail. So varied, so distinct, and so extensive are they in material, in body, in style, in decoration, and in uses, that anything like a detailed account becomes impossible. In stoneware, all the ordinary articles—jugs, mugs, bottles, &c.—are extensively produced; many of the designs of the pressed jugs being marked by pure taste and simplicity of design. In ordinary earthenware, dinner, tea, breakfast, toilet, and other services, and all the usual articles, are made in great variety, from the ordinary white and blue printed wares, up to richly enamelled and gilt patterns.
Figs. 249 and 250.