Cylindrical vase with cattail motif
1860s
Medium
Bone china
Dimensions
confirmed: 4 1/2 × 3 1/4 × 6 1/4 in., 8.818oz. (11.4 × 8.3 × 15.9 cm, 250g)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
British, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Helene Fortunoff and Robert Grossman, 2017
Accession Number
2018.62.16
Art Historical Context
This elegant cylindrical vase, adorned with a delicate cattail motif, hails from the renowned Minton pottery works in Stoke-on-Trent Staffordshire, Britain, during the 1860s. Crafted from bone china—a prized British innovation blending porcelain with bone ash for exceptional translucency, strength and a creamy white finish—this piece exemplifies the Victorian era's mastery of industrial ceramics. Measuring a compact 4½ × 3¼ ×6¼ inches, it was designed for both display and practical use, reflecting the period's blend of functionality and ornamentation. Minton, a leader in Staffordshire's potte...
About the Artist
Minton(s) · 1793–2001
Minton is among the most distinguished names in the history of British ceramics, a firm whose two and a quarter centuries of production encompass everything from blue transfer-printed earthenwares to the most rarefied decorative porcelain of the Victorian age. The company was founded in 1793 by Thomas Minton (1765–1836) in Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire — the heart of England's pottery industry. ...