A tall early 20th century pale blue tin-glazed porcelain vase lamp with brass fittings by Mintons. There is an impressed number: 3563 and marked Mintons on the base.

English, circa 1930
 
Dimensions

Height: 55cm / 21¾"
Width: 21cm / 8¼"
Depth: 21cm / 8¼"
Diameter (of base): 14cm / 5½"

Mintons was a major pottery company and a leading ceramic factory during the Victorian period. The firm was established in 1793 by Thomas Minton (1765-1836) in Stoke-upon-Trent in Staffordshire. Minton’s two sons, Thomas and Herbert became part of the firm in 1817 and as a result it was known as Thomas Minton & Sons. In 1849 Minton employed a young French ceramicist called Leon Arnoux as art director who remained with the Minton Company until 1892. Under the directorship of Arnoux it enabled the company to widen its product ranges considerably. Arnoux formulated the tin-glaze used for Mintons rare tin-glazed Majolica together with in-glaze metallic oxide enamels which could be painted. They exhibited at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, where there main client was Queen Victoria & they won the bronze medal for “beauty and originality of design”. The next twenty five years saw Mintons develop several new specialities in design and technique and production went from strength to strength. In 1870 Mintons opened an art pottery studio in Kensington which encouraged both amateur and professional artists to become involved in pottery decoration and design. From the mid 1890s onwards Mintons were very involved in producing bold Art Nouveau ceramics with a fine range of slip-trailed majolica ware. After the First World War wares became rather more conventional which continued during the early 20th century. After the Second World War the Minton factory in the centre of Stoke was rebuilt and modernised by J.E. Hartill. He was the then managing director of Mintons and a great-g-g-grandson of Thomas Minton. During the post-war period the firm shared the overall decline of the Staffordshire pottery industry. This resulted in Mintons merging with Royal Doulton. By the 1980s Mintons was only producing a few ranges of ceramics but still employed highly skilled decorators.