Monumental Pair Majolica Palissy Blue Medusa Vases, Snakes, School of Paris 1870

A Minton Majolica Wine Ewer Designed by Hugues Protât (active 1835-90), English, ca. 1875, the body molded as a wine barrel with grape vines to the center, surmounted by four Bacchanalian cherubs, with a Renaissance-style shaped and scrolled spout; the entire piece from the pedestal to the spout is entwined with purple-glazed grapes and green leaves with tendrils, the handle formed by overlapping vines; the reverse with impressed marks, 'MINTONS' and design number '900,' which corresponds to 'Barrel Jug with Cupids (M)' as recorded in the Minton Majolica Ornamental Shape and Design books and partially reprinted in Bergesen. BOOK REFERENCES: Victoria Bergesen, MAJOLICA: British, Continental, and American Wares. London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1989, p. 181. Minton Ornamental Shapes (i.e., design numbers) listed in Appendix D, pp. 180-182. Joan Jones, MINTON: THE FIRST TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF DESIGN AND PRODUCTION. Shrewsbury, England: Swan Hill Press, 1993, p. 348. Susan Weber et al., MAJOLICA MANIA: Transatlantic Pottery in England and the United States, 1850-1915, Volume Two, fig. 12.63. Full-page color photo of this actual piece. The author incorrectly dates the production of this example as 1863, but as it is impressed 'MINTONS,' it would have to be later than 1873 when the 'S' was added Minton. Victoria Cecil, MINTON MAJOLICA, Jeremy Cooper Ltd., Exhibition 7-26 June 1982, Galen Place, London, p. 48, cat. No. 17. Marilyn G. Karmason with Joan B. Stacke, Majolica, A Complete History and Illustrated Survey, New York, 1989, p. 41. The Art Journal Illustrated Catalogue for the International Exhibition 1862...

A George Jones Majolica Centerpiece Jardinière, the cobalt glazed shaped bowl supported by two naturalistically molded and glazed doves, with ribbon-wrapped garlands and trimmed in yellow ocher, on a rustic mound with green-glazed leaves and ferns forming the base; the reverse with molded and applied blue cartouche pad, 'GJ' monogram, and 'STOKE-on-TRENT.' Design number 2225 for the entry, 'Dove Jardinière,' as recorded in the George Jones Majolica Pattern Books preserved in the Victorian and Albert Museum, Wedgwood Collection, and reprinted in V. Bergesen.* The design is documented in the Karmason Library of the Majolica International Society, Number KL001257 with the designation 'Rare.' We have been among the preeminent specialists in fine English majolica for over thirty years. BOOK REFERENCES: -Victoria Bergesen, MAJOLICA: British, Continental, and American Wares. London: Barrie & Jenkins, 1989, p. 202 (George Jones Majolica Pattern Numbers, pp. 201-205). -Susan Weber et al., MAJOLICA MANIA: Transatlantic Pottery in England and the United States 1850--1915. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2020, Volume Two, p. 246, FIG. 18.21. -CHRISTIE'S London, 19TH CENTURY BRITISH AND CONTINENTAL CERAMICS...