Majolica 6 Majolica
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Majolica 6 Majolica: 1 History and the Market by John Ainsley Minton majolica figural This study is set against a background of over eighty examples of English majolica teapot, vulture attacking a sold at UK auctions in the last several years. These images cover 4 pages and should snake, rocky pattern base, Rare George Jones majolica provide the reader with a visual sense of the type of pottery under discussion. I will 8in high, impressed factory cheese dome and stand, with discuss the market later but it is first and foremost important to establish what we mark to base, No. 1851, date kingfisher finial, decorated mean when discussing this frequently misquoted and ambiguous term. code for 1878, handle broken, with flowering waterlilies What is Majolica? restuck. Canterbury Auction and reeds, 14in. Gorringes, The term may refer to a tin-glazed pottery, usually decorated and with an opaque Galleries, Kent. Feb 07. HP: Lewes. Feb 11. HP: £3,200. £17,000. ABP: £20,376. white glaze. Or it is sometimes used to define a type of tin-glazed pottery specifically ABP: £3,835. made in Italy, although nowadays we define this as maiolica and this single letter 2 7 spelling change often leads to much confusion and even errors in auction catalogues and dealers’ labelling. Then we may also be referring to Victorian majolica, which is a brightly coloured, usually earthenware pottery with a clear lead glaze. Tin-Glazed Pottery Tin-glazed pottery is covered in a glaze containing tin oxide which is white, shiny Rare Victorian George Jones and opaque. It is usually a red or buff coloured earthenware and the white glaze was majolica game pie dish, lid often used to imitate Chinese porcelain. modelled with a quail and Maiolica her young above rabbits in a Miaolica is Italian tin-glazed pottery, particularly from the Renaissance period. It is rustic landscape, 13.5in. George Jones two tier Gorringes, Lewes. Sep 10. decorated in bright colours on a white background and frequently depicts historical majolica oyster stand, 19thC, and legendary scenes. The name is thought to come from the medieval Italian word HP: £8,000. ABP: £9,588. lilac & green glazes, moulded for Majorca, the island on the shipping route which brought the Hispano Moresque 3 marks, 25cm high, handle re- paired in two places. Richard wares from Valencia to Italy. The pronunciation of the island’s name today gives us a Winterton Auctioneers, clue to the confusion with the spellings of Maiolica and Majolica, but the fact that we Burton on Trent. Jun 08. HP: pronounce the ‘j’ in the English version explains the anglicised usage today. £2,700. ABP: £3,236. Majolica The majolica in these pages was introduced by Minton’s Art Director, Leon Arnoux George Jones majolica game in 1850 and exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 under the name Palissy Ware, pie dish, tapering shape in reference to the eccentric sixteenth century potter Bernard Palissy whose wares moulded with cherubs, hounds 8 were decorated with naturalistic plant and animal motifs in relief and splashed with and stags against a deep blue bold colour and clear glazes. Palissy Wares are coloured by a transparent glaze, ground, cover with recumbent Majolica ware contains the opaque colour in the material. Despite being called deer handle, liner, unmarked, Minton’s Palissy Ware, the public began to call it Majolica ware and the name has 10in. dia, cover rivet re- stuck. In the 1880s the V&A tried to clear up the confusion by reviving the Italian paired. Gorringes, Lewes. Dec 07. HP: £5,600. ABP: £6,712. pronunciation ‘maiolica’ for Italian tin-glaze wares. The main English producers can be found here, with Minton, George Jones and Wedgwood leading the way. Lesser 4 George Jones majolica manufacturers appear as one progresses through the price range. garden seat, top and base The Market moulded as wicker bound, the sides depicting birds and Majolica wares are typically Victorian and range from garden ornaments, such as dragonfly within bull rushes seats and jardinieres to decorative and tablewares. Here I have selected items in the and lillies in relief, on a dark price range £20,000 to £100 and restricted examples of sales to the last seven years blue ground, 18in high. Victorian Minton majolica from c2007 to date. From about four to seven years ago prices were at their peak and Hartleys, Ilkley. Jun 06. HP: covered tureen on stand, had been since before 2000, fuelled by intense demand from the USA. This could not £2,600. ABP: £3,116. moulded holly and mistletoe last and prices have been levelling out for several years. The fact that this price guide decoration on an inscribed shows that high prices continue to be paid for the best examples shows that at some yellow ground with blue point towards the end of the twentieth century this Victorian phenomena, ignored for borders, impressed marks to almost a hundred years has become recognised as one of the finest examples of base (a/f), plate 33cm dia. Victorian ceramics ingenuity. Whilst here I have concentrated on English manufac- Locke & England, 9 turers, Majolica was to develop into a European and a North American phenomenon.. Leamington Spa. Mar 08. HP: £4,000. ABP: £4,794. Today the term is associated with an earthenware decorated with lead glazes which Wedgwood majolica match usually cover the object completely. Most earthenwares are usually covered in opaque box designed as a fly c1870, decoration and glazes whereas porcelains leave much of their paste uncovered to 5 wings and thorax forming the show off the quality of the paste itself. However my studies of Majolica from items cover, underside with strike, across Europe have shown that ‘majolica’ need not be earthenware. I have seen spreading oval foot, typically examples of fine stoneware and even Continental porcelain dressed with a Majolica glazed in brown, green and finish in brightly coloured lead glazes so must conclude that my definition of blue, impressed and three Pair of Minton majolica Majolica remains as a definition of the finish applied to the objects rather than to letter date stamp, indistinctly their ceramic status and I will also suggest that when the body is of an earthenware ‘bamboo’ vases, each with a marked F for 1877?, 13.5cm monkey pulling anothers tail, long. (a/f). Halls Fine Art, type then it will inevitably, where high quality and artistic merit is encountered, be of No. 1692, 19cm high. George Shrewsbury. Mar 07. HP: a superior earthenware type, quite the opposite of most maiolicas, faience or delft. Kidner, Lymington. Oct 07. £2,500. ABP: £2,996. HP: £3,200. ABP: £3,835. 36 ANTIQUES INFO - May/June 14 Majolica 15 29 10 Rare set of 6 Minton majolica George Jones & Son plates, with central turquoise Victorian Wedgwood majolica 20 24 majolica fish tureen/cover, ground, bordered by alter- basket, cover and stand, rose late 19thC, elliptical form, Minton majolica square nating fish and shell motifs, knop and laurel decoration, cover moulded in high relief impressed marks. Gorringes, jardiniere, date code for 8.5in. Gorringes, Lewes. May Victorian Minton’s majolica with a fish on fern leaves, Lewes. Sep 08. HP: £2,500. 1859, 10.25in. Gorringes, 10. HP: £1,600. ABP: £1,917. conservatory seat, impressed basket weave moulded base, ABP: £2,996. Lewes. Dec 13. HP: £800. marks to base. Chippenham mauve glazed interior, feint ABP: £958. 11 Auction Rooms, Chippenham. impressed mark and unglazed Jan 10. HP: £1,100. 25 patch with black painted No. ABP: £1,318. 2763X, 19.5in. Gorringes, 16 Lewes. Dec 11. HP: £650. ABP: £779. George Jones majolica 30 Mintons majolica pie tureen jardiniere, c1870, rhombus cover and stand, decorated form, relief moulded sides Minton majolica centrepiece, with fruiting holly & mistle- with cranes against duck egg two cats pulling on ribbons toe, 6in. Gorringes, Lewes. Sep blue ground, bamboo borders, either side of a basket, 10. HP: £2,400. ABP: £2,876. pink glazed interior, zinc decorated in bright shades of liner, im’d ‘GJ’, chipped, blues, pinks and browns, 28cm wide, 18cm high. Halls 21 impressed marks, 5.5in. Fine Art, Shrewsbury. Jul 10. Gorringes, Lewes. Mar 09. Pair of George Jones HP: £1,600. ABP: £1,917. HP: £700. ABP: £839. majolica wall sconces of oval form, backs embossed with 17 foliage/fruit in typical colours, pale blue, green etc 12 Victorian Minton majolica (both have holes to lower centrepiece, modelled as Pan Minton majolica bowl, 1873. bodies and one has extensive holding a basket aloft, in Richard Winterton, Burton on repair), 15.5in high. Arnolds typical bright colours, 26 Trent. Jan 07. HP: £2,200. Keys , Aylsham. Jan 13. HP: George Jones majolica impressed marks, 21in, a.f. ABP: £2,636. £640. ABP: £767. butterfly trinket box/cover, Gorringes, Lewes. May 09. The prices quoted are actual late 19thC, red admiral HP: £1,000. ABP: £1,198. Victorian Minton majolica Hammer Prices (HP) butterfly perched on a daisy jardiniere, with twin laurel followed by the Approximate scattered ground, yellow wreath handles and Greek Buyer’s Price (ABP) which glazed rim, turquoise glazed key decoration, 14.5in, a.f. includes an average buyer’s Gorringes, Lewes. Sep 10. premium of 16.55% VAT. interior, registration lozenge to base, black painted ‘34K’ HP: £700. ABP: £839. (at fault) 10.5cm wide. Halls 13 Fine Art, Shrewsbury. Mar 09. 31 HP: £1,250. ABP: £1,498. 22 Pair of Minton majolica George Jones & Sons figural bowls, boy and girl majolica jardiniere, late with hands raised kneeling 19thC, melon fluted globular 27 before large yellow baskets, form, moulded and applied in Large Minton majolica oval he in purple coat and green high relief with finches platter, date cypher for 1861, breeches, she in brown and amidst flowering orchids in moulded lily pad/bullrushes green dress, on rustic base, 18 colours on a cobalt blue design, imp’d marks, 62cm impressed mark, 8in wide.