Stool Decorated with Flowers, Minton, England, end of 19th century

This superb stool decorated with flowers is the work of Minton, the English factory. Its original shape of a faceted drum receives a floral decoration on a brown background. Leas large flowers burst out with a golden bud, revealing white petals with pink tips. Their green stems are intertwined in the same way as decorative scrolls. The upper part is a dark blue with raised tablets of the same colour forming a pyramidal pattern. The marine seat is perforated, which creates a floral decoration giving an iconographic unity. Two yellow fictitious handles are present on both ends of the stool.

Minton was founded in 1793 by Thomas Minton. He bought a field in Stoke-on-Trent, south of Manchester, in order to build a little workshop. At the beginning the production was focused on domestic ware with a printed blue and white underglaze decor. Just a few pieces had a mark and this production had more to do with subcontracting than creation. The development of the firm went with the elaboration, around 1798, of a cream colored faïence called « bone china ». This new kind of ware,  made with bone powder, was also dedicated to a domestic use. Its production stopped in 1816 and restarted in 1824 with a great success.