Period: Mid-Victorian, circa 1868
Maker: Minton
This octagonal Minton dessert comport is attributed to Christopher Dresser, one of the most influential British designers of the 19th Century and often considered the father of independent industrial design. In the late 1860s, Dresser began supplying Minton with designs for ceramic tableware and ornaments.
Dresser was particularly influenced by Japanese cloisonné, or shippō-yaki (七宝焼), which inspired the enamelled geometric patterns on the turquoise border, in between the reticulated flowerheads. The exotic border provides dramatic contrast to the quintessential English scene in the centre, a bucolic river landscape with two figures in the foreground. The exquisite enamel painting is framed in raised and tooled gold. The top rests on a splayed octagonal foot, with a decoration that mirrors the upper border.
Almost hidden away on the base, there is a painted Minton pattern number, G118, indicating a date of around 1868. Only the faint outline of an impressed design registration lozenge can be discerned.
Condition Very good. Some gilt rubbing along the octagonal upper rim. Very faint glaze scratches on the white when held up to light. The comport stands on eight ceramic foot pads, originally all glued with green felt to prevent scratching of polished tables. Three of these eight felts are missing.
Size Width: 25.7 cm; Height: 7 cm
Net weight: 727 g
Medium: Bone china (porcelain)
Origin: Stoke-on-Trent, England
