Lot Essay
Born in Austria, William Mussill was active at Minton as a painter and designer from 1862-1900. Noted for his large scale compositions of landscapes and birds, he based these designs on sketches made from life at the conservatories of Trentham and Liverpool.
The subjects depicted on the present panels are similar to those produced in majolica by Minton in the mid 19th century. Indeed, a peacock virtually identical to the bird depicted on the present panel was modelled as shape 2045 by the noted animalier sculptor Paul Comolera circa 1873. An example of the over five-foot tall ceramic sculpture by sold by Christie's London, ........
Cf. Paul Atterbury and Maureen Batkin, The Dictionary of Minton, Woodbridge, 1990, p. 288; also Joan Jones, Minton: The First Two Hundred Years of Design & Production, Shrewsbury, 1993, pp. 141-142
The subjects depicted on the present panels are similar to those produced in majolica by Minton in the mid 19th century. Indeed, a peacock virtually identical to the bird depicted on the present panel was modelled as shape 2045 by the noted animalier sculptor Paul Comolera circa 1873. An example of the over five-foot tall ceramic sculpture by sold by Christie's London, ........
Cf. Paul Atterbury and Maureen Batkin, The Dictionary of Minton, Woodbridge, 1990, p. 288; also Joan Jones, Minton: The First Two Hundred Years of Design & Production, Shrewsbury, 1993, pp. 141-142