Antique Minton

Collecting Antique Minton Porcelain and the history of the 200 year old Minton Company.

Thomas Minton founded his factory in 1793 in Stoke-upon-Trent, England.

He was famous for Minton ware, a cream-coloured and blue-printed earthenware as well as majolica, bone china and Parian porcelain.

Throughout its history Minton has often led the way in adapting fashions to the field of ceramics, resulting in a huge range of styles.

Minton were just behind spode in the production of bone china c1800, although none was produced from 1816 to 1824.

Minton and Copeland share the claim to being the first to produce the fine, white porcelain known as parian in the 1840s.

A distinctive turquoise blue enamel (inspired by Sevres bleu celeste) is a special feature of Minton, seen at its most striking in the cloisonne range of wares imitating Chinese cloisonne enamelling on metal, much of which was designed by Christopher Dresser.

In the 1820's Minton started bone china production and this early Minton is regarded as comparable to French Sevres porcelain, which influenced it greatly. Minton's was the only English china factory of the 19th century to employ a Sevres process called pate-sur-pate.

Minton produced some of the finest examples of Parian ware,

Parian Ware is a marble-like unglazed porcelain body developed during the 1840s and used most successfully for sculptural pieces.

John Bell, the American Hiram Powers, and Albert Carrier de Belleuse were among the sculptors who produced statuary for Minton.

Popular scaled-down models of larger pieces by contemporary and past sculptors were produced in Parian ware and the material was often used in combination with glazed and painted bone china for display pieces.

In 1849, the French ceramist Leon Arnoux became art director at Minton

Leon remained there until 1892 and among his achievements were the development of Renaissance inspired ceramics such as inlaid earthenwares, pieces painted in the style of Limoges porcelain and in 1850 Minton introduced the richly coloured and heavily glazed majolica.

Majolica was first shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and used for all kinds of objects from large garden ornaments and elaborate display pieces to dishes and jugs for the table.

Arnoux attracted other French artists to Minton, notably the sculptor Carrier de Belleuse, the modeller and decorator Marc-Louis Solon and the painter Antoine Boullemier.

Marc-Louis Solon introduced the pate-sur-pate technique to Minton, having developed it previously at Sevres. This beautiful but labourious process involves building up a design in relief with layers of liquid slip, each one having to dry before the next is applied.

Using this technique, Solon and his apprentices modelled diaphanously clad maidens and tumbling cherubs on vases and plaques with a skill that was unmatched by any other factory.

Herbert Minton died in 1858.

After Herberts death the firm was run by his nephew Colin Minton Campbell and Colin was a visionary like his uncle.

From the 1860's Oriental decoration pre-occupied Minton. Highly original pieces, both in earthenware and bone china, evoked Chinese cloisonne enamels, Japanese lacquer ware and ivories, Islamic metalwork and Turkish pottery.

In 1870, Minton's Art Pottery Studio was established in Kensington, London

The art studio was set up under the direction of the painter WS Coleman, in order to encourage both amateur and professional artists to decorate china and tiles for Minton. Although popular and influential, unfortunately the studio was burnt down in 1875 and was never rebuilt.

Colin Minton Campbell was a visionary like his uncle, but after his death in 1887, his successors did not have the entrepreneurial skills. Even though excellent work continued to flow out of the factory, management languished among disinterested Minton family members and the company narrowly escaped bankruptcy.

By the early 1900's, most of Minton's great 19th-century designers and artists had died, retired, or left the company.

From 1902, a range of slip-trailed majolica wares were Minton's contribution to Art Nouveau. Sadly, the 20th century brought progressively more difficult times, including disruption during two World Wars, until the company finally became part of the Royal Doulton group in the 1990's.

Minton is today part of Royal Doulton Tableware Ltd and continues to implement special commissions while still producing the tablewares that it is best known for.