A PAIR OF MINTONS PATE-SUR-PATE BLACK AND CHOCOLATE-BROWN TWO-HANDLED VASES ON BLACK BELGIAN MARBLE BASES, 'VOYAGEUR & HOSTESSE'
A PAIR OF MINTONS PATE-SUR-PATE BLACK AND CHOCOLATE-BROWN TWO-HANDLED VASES ON BLACK BELGIAN MARBLE BASES, 'VOYAGEUR & HOSTESSE'
A PAIR OF MINTONS PATE-SUR-PATE BLACK AND CHOCOLATE-BROWN TWO-HANDLED VASES ON BLACK BELGIAN MARBLE BASES, 'VOYAGEUR & HOSTESSE'
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A PAIR OF MINTONS PATE-SUR-PATE BLACK AND CHOCOLATE-BROWN TWO-HANDLED VASES ON BLACK BELGIAN MARBLE BASES, 'VOYAGEUR & HOSTESSE'
6 More
A PAIR OF MINTONS PATE-SUR-PATE BLACK AND CHOCOLATE-BROWN TWO-HANDLED VASES ON BLACK BELGIAN MARBLE BASES, 'VOYAGEUR & HOSTESSE'

BOTH SIGNED AND DATED L.(OUIS) SOLON (18)76, ONE WITH IMPRESSED UPPERCASE MARK, THE OTHER FOOT UNEXAMINED, RECORDED AS SHAPE NO. 1722

Details
A PAIR OF MINTONS PATE-SUR-PATE BLACK AND CHOCOLATE-BROWN TWO-HANDLED VASES ON BLACK BELGIAN MARBLE BASES, 'VOYAGEUR & HOSTESSE'
BOTH SIGNED AND DATED L.(OUIS) SOLON (18)76, ONE WITH IMPRESSED UPPERCASE MARK, THE OTHER FOOT UNEXAMINED, RECORDED AS SHAPE NO. 1722
Each cylindrical neck decorated in polychrome pâte-sur-pâte with a central lyre and opposing diving dolphins, flanked by strap loop handles with rosette terminals, the shoulder enriched with a band of anthemion, the body finely painted and hand-tooled in white slip with a either a beckoning maiden holding a tray flanked by putti holding pennants and preparing a feast or with a young Mercury, the deity of travellers, attended by putti beneath framed winged and flaming hearts, the obverse with putti atop ladders hanging a banner or with welcoming putti seated at high tables preparing to dine, all above a heart and zig-zag band, the lower section with stylized stiff-leaf tips, on a stepped circular foot, gilt bronze mount and square Belgian marble base
17 3/8 in. (44 cm.) high (2)
Provenance
Thomas Goode & Co. Ltd., London.
Literature
J. Jones, Minton, The First Two Hundred Years of Design and Production, Shrewsbury, 1993, p. 209.
B. Bumpus, Pâte-sur-Pâte, The Art of Ceramic Relief Decoration 1849-1992, London, 1992, p. 114, fig. 72.
Exhibited
London, Victoria & Albert Museum and Thomas Goode & Co., Ltd., 1976, E. Aslin and P. Atterbury, Minton 1798-1910, p. 100, cat. TG12&13.

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Lot Essay

Louis Solon's Illustrated Journal records a design entry for this distinctive pair between the 11 of May and 11th of June 1876. The design for the pâte-sur-pâte surface decoration is titled 'Voyageur & Hostesse' and the margin notes a combined 68 days with Thomas Mellor assisting with the ornamentation. Solon's reputation as 'The Master of the Medium' is self-evident in the pair's execution. Additionally astounding is his originality. Each work is not only uniquely hand-tooled and carved with intricate care; his day-book confirms that no two pieces are identical. Solon revisits this sentiment almost exactly one year later in June of 1877 with a pair of vases featuring the interaction between a hostess and traveller titled 'Le depart & L'arrivee'. See Christie's, New York, 20 April 2006, lot 386. When reviewed together, these works reveal the joy of travel and the pleasure of return.

Also see B. Bumpus op. cit., p. 113, where he speculates that it is likely that this pair was shown at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, 1876.
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