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| Centerpiece Made for Minton, 1851 The Victoria & Albert Museum |
A magnificently tiered centerpiece, this work by Minton was designed for a dessert service in the style which the famed manufacturer called an “assiette montée.” It served a dual purpose, intended both as a table ornament and for serving sweetmeats or fruit.
Designed for Minton by figure-modeler Pierre-Emile Jeannest (1813-1857), this is one of his finest works. Jeannest was the son of a French bronzier, was also a pupil of Delaroche, and worked for Minton for several years between about 1848 and 1854. The piece was painted by Thomas Kirkby (1824-1890) who was Minton’s premier painter for over 50 years.
The centerpiece is part of a 116-piece dessert service shown by Minton at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and was later displayed by Queen Mary at Marlborough House who admired it because of its “successful turquoise colour” and because it was “the highest state of English ceramic manufacture.”
Years before Queen Mary’s admiration of the piece, Queen Victoria had been so struck by the appearance of the entire service when she attended the preview of the Great Exhibition that she and Prince Albert immediately purchased it. Later, Queen Victoria presented portions of the set to the Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria (r. 1848-1916) and his consort, the Empress Elisabeth.
The centerpiece is exceptional in its combination of glazed and decorated bone china with unglazed Parian figures. The judges at the Great Exhibition lauded its “original design, high degree of beauty and harmony of effect” as well as its “bleu celeste” (turquoise colour).
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