Heron holding a fish – Minton, H. Protât,1867
This brightly coloured piece bears witness to the exceptional creativity that reigned at the Minton factory in Stoke-on-Trent during the second half of the 19th century. It must be said that the manufactory exerted an important power of attraction, particularly since the Universal Exhibition in London in 1851. Many French and Italian sculptors came to work in the workshops of the most famous artistic ceramics factory in England. The technique developed by Léon Arnoux, known as majolica magnifies the models imagined by animal sculptors such as Louis Carrier-Belleuse, Paul Comoléra or Hugues Prôtat. It is to the latter that we owe this astonishing group representing a heron holding in its beak a fish that it has just seized. The precision of the details and the harmony of the composition make it a quality piece.