Object Type
This grand piece was called 'Victoria' by Minton, in honour of the Queen. It shows scenes of hunting with dogs. The cover is decorated with vine leaves and boys are shown picking grapes in reference to the vessel's use.

Materials & Making
The rich glazes and dramatic modelling of Minton's majolica sought chiefly to emulate the work of the 16th-century French Renaissance potter, Bernard Palissy. Majolica was developed in 1849 by Léon Arnoux for Minton. Unlike Minton's majolica products which were painted over an opaque white glaze imitative of Italian Renaissance 'maiolica', the majolica lead-glazes were painted directly onto the buff earthenware. These transparent glazes were coloured with metal oxides and could all be fired at once. Majolica was immensely popular in the 1850-1880 period.

People
Herbert Minton (1792-1858) was a major innovator and the most successful manufacturer of British 19th-century ceramics, a figure not unlike Josiah Wedgwood in the previous century. Minton was the only British ceramic manufacturer to be awarded a Council Medal by the Great Exhibition jury. Joseph-Léon-François Arnoux (1816-1902) was the son of a Toulouse porcelain manufacturer. He had studied pottery at the Sèvres factory before joining Minton. He retired as its art director in 1892 and remained a consultant until his death. Pierre-Emile Jeannest (1813-57) worked at Minton's for a few years from about 1848, designing both figures and useful wares for a variety of ceramic bodies (see also Centrepiece 454-1854). He was the son of a French bronzier and a pupil of Delaroche.