Moon flask with Aesthetic bird motif
1867
Medium
Red stoneware, enamel
Dimensions
confirmed: 6 × 5 3/16 × 2 1/8 in. (15.2 × 13.2 × 5.4 cm)
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
2018.62.11
Art Historical Context
This exquisite *Moon Flask with Aesthetic Bird Motif*, crafted by the renowned British ceramics firm Minton(s) in 1867, exemplifies the Victorian era's fascination with exotic forms and artistic beauty. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of European Sculpture and Decor Arts, this piece measures a compact 6 × 5 3/16 × 2 1/8 inches and is made from durable red stoneware adorned with vibrant enamel. The moon flask shape draws inspiration from ancient Chinese ceramics, a popular motif in 19th-century Europe as trade and collecting brought Eastern wares to Western markets. Minto...
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. ...