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Snake handled vase
Production:
Minton & Co.
Designer:
Stevens, Alfred George
Cream earthenware vase, moulded with two modelled handles, transfer printed and painted in white and deep blue.
Amphora shape on flared, conical foot with a narrow ribbed neck and everted rim. Two handles modelled as snakes, coil on the rim and curve down to meet the rounded shoulders. Painted in dark blue on a white ground with a frieze of putti playing on swags linked by two bearded masks below the handles. The frieze is bordered by Renaissance-style scrolling foliage and motifs, also on the neck and foot; the handles have a blue snake-skin pattern painted onto the cream clay. The underside has an unglazed foot-rim and a deep indentation into the stem.
History note: Charles & Lavinia Handley-Read; according to label, purchased for £4.00, Portobello [Road, London?].
From the Charles & Lavinia Handley-Read Collection, bought from the Perceval Fund and the V & A grant-in-aid fund.
Height: 29 cm
Width: 14 cm
Method of acquisition: Bought (1972-06-17) by Stainton, Thomas
Victorian
Production date:
AD 1864
: marked; design produced 1861
Alfred Stevens (1817-1875) was a painter, sculptor and designer. He spent several years studying in Italy, before working for Minton c.1859-1862. This design, which he originally produced in 1861, illustrates his interest in echoing the decoration of Italian Renaissance maiolica. Stevens produced other similar designs using this shape of vase, but he may not have designed the shape as it was in use before he joined the company.
Minton launched wares ‘coloured in the Majolica style’ at the Great Exhibition of 1851, to great acclaim. The new product took inspiration from the earlier Italian maiolica, tin-glazed earthenware with painted decoration, but used brightly coloured lead-glazes and generally favoured sculptural forms rather than finely painted decoration. A few Minton designers, however, such as Stevens and the Minton Art Director, Léon Arnoux, sought closer imitation using enamels and shapes based on Urbino models (as here), though such work was never so widely produced.
Minton, founded in 1793 by Thomas Minton (1765-1836), originally produced blue printed earthenware and, later, creamware, bone china and other products, particularly tableware. Taking over in 1836, his son Herbert Minton revolutionised production methods and introduced new lines in encaustic and printed tiles, figures and ornamental wares. In 1858 the business passed to Herbert’s son, Colin Minton Campbell, who continued the expansion.The early business traded under various names, from 1845 it was known as Minton & Co. and from 1873 as Mintons Ltd.
Decoration
composed of
enamels
( deep blue, white)
Handles
cream
Earthenware
Clear glaze
Moulding
: Moulded and modelled earthenware, transfer printed, glazed and painted with enamels.
Glazing
Inscription present: a horizontal line crossing 'Z'
Accession number: C.42-1972
Primary reference Number: 75036
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Snake handled vase" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/75036 Accessed: 2024-12-18 11:19:30
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/75036
|title=Snake handled vase
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-18 11:19:30|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-75036
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<figure class="figure">
<img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa11/C_42_1972_281_29.jpg"
alt="Snake handled vase"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Snake handled vase</figcaption>
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