Click on the image for a full size
picture.
An eight inch with Shakespeare
scene.
Six inch single colour Shakespeare
alternate tile
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- Style/technique: Aesthetic multicolour print
- Manufacturer: Mintons China Works
- Dimensions: 8" x 8"
- Date: circa 1880
- Colours: 4 printed
It is pretty certain that every collector of Victorian
tiles is familiar with Mintons Shakespeare series, it being
both the most popular series and the largest being twenty
four in the set. Well most people think that there are
twenty four, there is however an incredibly rare twenty
fifth tile.
Many people are also familiar with the multicolour
versions, bizarrely called 'monochrome' in the Mintons
catalogue - you'd have thought that even if Mintons
marketing department had made the mistake the colour
printers would have corrected it but it seems not. The
multicolour series in greys are not too uncommon, the
browns, which I prefer are considerably less often found,
probably about as frequently as Thompsons Seasons. There are
only eighteen of the multicolour Shakespeares.
Then there are eight inch versions of the series, made
larger by the addition of a pleasant border. This larger
size, in the misnamed 'sepia monochrome', appear in the
catalogue as pattern number 1710 and with the typo
'Skapespeare Series'.
The rare twenty fifth tile in six inch monochrome, or
nineteenth in the multicolour variations becomes even rarer
when looking for the eight inch version especially in sepia.
This is it, the rarest of all the Shakespeare series*, so
rare that few people are aware that it actually exists.
*We do have to add one caveat here, Mintons did do
special order colour combinations so occassionally one does
see for example black Shakespeare prints with turquoise
glaze or coloured in corner motifs which are 'standard'
special order colours, they would do others on special
request.
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We associate Victorian design with fussiness but they
well recognised that over fussy was not good design in all
situations. Mintons recognised this, may of their layouts of
tiles for walls are decided plain, they also recommended
'alternate' tiles to go with the picture series, here is an
image from their catalogue.
The alternate tile here illustrated with the Aesop's
Fables series is far from uncommon so it is most surprising
that the Shakespeare alternate tile, which also incidentally
goes with the gastronomical series as the corner motifs
match, is so rare.
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Pattern number
1723
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Mintons did do a popular and very similar bold stylised
aesthetic multicolour tile, pattern number 1723 which also
appears in eight inch version with border and some colour
combinations but that still doesn't explain the rarity of
the Shakepeare alternate tile.
This is one of those designs that get the label,
possibly, probably or even by Christopher Dresser without
any supporting evidence. Artists and designers have always
had similar influences and kept up with trends, they went to
the same exhibitions and lectures and read the same books
and magazines. This is probably more likely to be have been
done by Moyr Smith than Dresser but I doubt we'll ever know
for sure.
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