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.
$295
H 1 in Dm 8.75 in
Antique English Hand Painted Botanical Ceramic Cabinet Plate - U.K. - Circa 1850
Located in Chatham, ON
Antique English botanical ceramic cabinet plate - featuring a hand painted rose to the center and raised turquoise glaze pattern and gilding to the b...
Ceramic
$1,596
H 0.99 in Dm 9.85 in
Early 19th C Copeland porcelain hand painted fruit and flower cabinet plate
Located in Central England, GB
This superb early 19th century porcelain cabinet plate is very finely hand painted with a rich central display of exotic fruit and foliage over a white ground boardered with a delica...
Porcelain
Antique Hand Painted Porcelain Cabinet Plate - Unsigned - U.K. - 19th Century
Located in Chatham, ON
Antique porcelain cabinet plate with hand-painted floral design - edged with shells and scrolls in relief - pattern number '3035' painted in ...
Ceramic
$300
H 0.79 in Dm 9.45 in
Meissen Plate in Hand Painted Porcelain with Floral Decoration. 20th Century
Located in København, Copenhagen
Meissen plate in hand painted porcelain with floral decoration. 20th century. Measure: Diameter: 24.5 cm. In very good condition. Stamped. 3rd factory quality.
Porcelain
Antique English Elaborate Hand Painted Cabinet or Wall Plate, Heavily Gilded
By Hammersley
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
A visually stunning porcelain plate by one of England's premier Gilded Age factories: Hammersley & Co and custom ordered through Chicago's fine retailer Burley & Company. This wall o...
Gold, Enamel
19th Century French Faience Floral Plate
Located in Pearland, TX
A lovely antique late 18th-century to early 19th-century French faience plate with beautiful hand painted flowers and a scalloped rim. It would look fabulous displayed on a wall or s...
Faience
Spode Hand-painted Rose Plate, English, 19th Century
By Spode
Located in Southampton, NY
Spode Porcelain Hand-painted Rose Plate, English, 19th Century Marked underside 2/183 in yellow From a Private Collection in Manhattan. Good overall condi...
Porcelain
$263Sale Price|34% Off
H 1 in Dm 8.13 in
Georgian John Ridgway Plate Porcelain Hand Painted botanical, Circa 1820
Located in Lincoln, Lincolnshire
This is a beautiful, decorative, Porcelain Botanical Plate by John Ridgway, of Shelton, Hanley, Staffordshire Potteries, England, dating to the Late Georgian period of the early 19th...
Porcelain
19th C Minton Hand Painted Botanical Pierced Rim Dessert Service
By Minton
Located in Great Barrington, MA
A complete hand painted dessert service made by Minton showcases their superb talent and artistry. Gorgeous specimens are featured in the centers of each plate, consisting of 12 dessert plates, 2 tall compotes...
Paste, Porcelain
$1,032
H 1.97 in W 10.83 in D 7.49 in
An Early 19th century English porcelain hand painted porcelain davenport dish
Located in Central England, GB
A Fine Early 19th C English Davenport Dish, Circa 1835 A rare William IIII period Davenport porcelain kidney shaped dish raised up on to three foliate and scrolled feet. This fine piece has a shaped and pierced edge with raised and moulded flower heads and acanthus scrolls around it. The dish is exquisitely decorated over a grey boarder with a broad band of delicate foliate stylised intricate gilding with leaves, shells and anthemion amongst its detail. The centre of the bowl has a white ground with a superb hand-painted display of brightly coloured exotic flowers with leaves and foliage. Marked on the underside with the purple Davenport Longport Staffordshire...
Porcelain
