Object History
Provenance:
Retailed by W.P. & G. Phillips, 175, 177 & 179 Oxford St, London.
This elegant and sophisticated pair of vases is a fine example of the exceptional Pâte-sur-Pâte decoration undertaken by Louis Solon for Mintons in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
The vases, recorded as shape number ‘1819,’ take the form of moon flasks derived from Chinese ‘Baoyueping’ vases and traditional two-handled pilgrims’ flasks.
The 1862 International Exhibition in London and the 1867 Exposition Universelle in Paris showcased Asian art, including works from Japan following its opening to the world after a long period of self-imposed isolation (ending in 1854). This sparked a trend for all things ‘Japonisme,’ inspiring European artists and designers with a fresh aesthetic. Alongside the Japanese works at the 1867 Paris exhibition, Mintons exhibited a small group of porcelain designed by Dr. Christopher Dresser (1834–1904), including moon flasks with cloisonné decoration. This iconic shape, designed by Mintons émigré Art Director Léon Arnoux (1816-1902) in 1862, became one of the most popular forms of the Aesthetic era and a hallmark of Mintons Art Pottery Studio, established in London in 1870.
The large, flat, circular surfaces of these vases provided an ideal canvas for not only aesthetic design but for showcasing exceptional and costly Pâte-sur-Pâte decoration.
The outstanding decoration to the present flasks, with its playful allegory of ‘love as food and wine,’ reflects Louis Solon’s thematic ingenuity. His designs often featured diaphanously clad goddesses accompanied by mischievous Erotes, exploring the many facets of love, and the Minton archives contain several drawings in his hand depicting seated classical Grecian maidens in klismos chairs.
The decoration executed with characteristic precision and delicacy of touch, exemplifies Solon’s mastery of the art.
A related pair of Mintons Peacock Blue moon flasks, decorated by Solon in Pâte-sur-Pâte with figures of Venus and Cupid, was exhibited at the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878. One of these vases is shown in ‘The Illustrated Catalogue of the Paris International Exhibition, 1878’, p. 103.
A review of Mintons display at the 1878 exhibition describes:
“Solon’s work in paste cannot be described. Mintons’ court was enriched with a profusion of examples, and all of the highest degree of merit, on vases, plaques, and plates. There was no sign of wearying in well-doing by this master. His work is incomparably superior to that of any of his imitators, far surpassing in art value the best examples of figure-subjects from the kilns of Sèvres. He alone fully and satisfactorily unites skill in the technique of the paste and glaze and the genius of sculptor and designer. His favorite subjects, as is well known, are the female form, Cupids, and cherubs. He delights in illustrating the pranks Cupid plays with the hearts of maidens.”
(Reports of the United States commissioners to the Paris Universal Exposition 1878, Volume III, Iron and Steel, Ceramics and Glass, Forestry, Cotton, Washington, 1880, p. 136-137).
During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, when Paris was besieged, Louis Solon and a host of other talented ceramicists fled the turmoil to find an artistic haven in Stoke on Trent, to the great benefit of the Minton factory.
Léon Arnoux, the Art Director at Minton, had left France himself many years before. Having trained at Sèvres, he knew the workmen, and had followed many of their careers with great interest. In particular Louis Solon had caught his eye, and as the Prussian army closed in it didn’t take much to persuade him to join Leon Arnoux’s factory in Stoke-Upon-Trent.
The technique of Pâte-sur-Pâte had been invented in France just before the middle of the nineteenth century. The imperial manufactory at Sèvres exhibited Pâte-sur-Pâte at the Great Exhibition in 1851. Herbert Minton was a close friend of Henry Cole, who together with Prince Albert had been the brains behind the Great Exhibition. From the Sèvres display a vase decorated with strawberries was bought for the new South Kensington Museum. The following year Colin Minton Campbell bought a pair of vases for his own collection, and in 1855 Léon Arnoux wrote a glowing review of Sèvres Pâte-sur-Pâte at the Paris Exhibition. Clearly, he wanted Minton to make Pâte-sur-Pâte but they lacked any decorators with the necessary skills.
At Sèvres there were two principal Pâte-sur-Pâte decorators, Hyacinthe Régnier and Jules Gély. Both taught Marc Louis Solon when he joined the Sèvres factory in 1857. Solon had incredible technical skill, but more importantly he was a completely original artist. Solon’s Pâte-sur-Pâte vases and plaques are unique compositions all.
After joining Minton in 1870 Solon was now decorating bone china rather than hard porcelain, and the lower firing temperature meant that detail was easier to control. He was also able to develop a wider range of intense background colours.
Pâte-sur-Pâte decoration is painted in white ‘slip’ – clay diluted with water. Many separate layers of ‘slip’ are applied and each is allowed to dry fully before the next application. When dry the slip can be carved and tooled to emphasise the detail. Anything up to thirty or forty layers are used to create the best compositions. Finally when the work is completed the intense heat of the kiln transforms the clay into porcelain. It is only after the second firing, covering the porcelain with transparent glaze, that the decorative effect can be fully appreciated. Pâte-sur-Pâte ‘is not a process of moulding, but of sculpturing, and can no more be reproduced mechanically than can a Madonna of Raphael’ (Reports of the United States commissioners to the Paris Universal Exposition 1878, Volume III, Washington, 1880, p. 137).
Solon’s team of very talented apprentices at Minton continued to grow, and by 1873 included some very talented decorators. Together they earned the factory huge international recognition. So famous was Minton’s Pâte-sur-Pâte that it inspired excellent copies from Meissen, Berlin, Limoges, and in due course from the USA. But no other manufacturer ever employed the talent to match Minton’s decorators.
Each vase took many months to complete and cost an enormous sum to produce. However there seemed to be no shortage of customers willing to pay Minton a considerable profit for the pieces. However, by 1904 Salon’s ever-increasing salary was proving too much for Minton and he was forced to retire. He did however continue to produce work for Minton until just before his death. Out of Salon’s shadow emerged one of his apprentices Alboin Birks. Birks was to make greater use of moulds to provide the basic elements of designs to control the high costs, however even this could not eventually preserve Pâte-sur-Pâte as a technique, as it became simply too difficult and costly.
