Rare Early Blue and White Minton Tile
Condition: Excellent Price: £130 (approx $199) Ref: #03379 UK Special Delivery £138 EU Priority £142 US and World Priority £146 Currency Converter Eight tiny rim chips, some light surface rubbing. Amazingly clean and bright given the early date. .
• Style/technique: Pictorial print • Manufacturer: Minton & Co • Dimensions: 6" x 6" • Date: circa 1850	A charming 18th century scene of a group of children playing in the grounds of country house in a Rococco style border. One of Mintons earliest picture series known as 'Watteau Subjects' being in the style of the French artist Jean-Antoine Watteau and also echoing the earliest transfer printed tiles of Sadler and Green. Well printed in a very pleasing, warm rich blue. This series was reintroduced by Mintons Ltd in the 1880s examples of which are seen fairly frequently but this is a very early example from around 1850. At pattern number 12 it would have been one of the first series of wall tiles introduced by Minton & Co and probably owes more to Michael Hollins than Herbert Minton, Hollins ran the tile business from 1845 under the name Minton, Hollins & Co. Made in smaller quantities and with more years to survive these are very rare, perhaps 1:1000 compared to the later examples. Amazing though it may seem but the Minton & Co 1850 tiles are often better printed than the 1880s Mintons Ltd examples. Prosser's Patent was the original patent for machinery to press dry clay in to ceramic shapes using a press and mould the original intent being the manufacture of buttons. Rather than cut tiles out of slabs of wet clay dry or dust clay was used. The patented process greatly helped with the drying time before firing and enabled more consistent shrinkage and dimensions as well as generally speeding up the process of making tile blanks. Prosser's patent was taken out in 1840 and lasted for fourteen years, Minton & Co would have ceased putting Prosser's name on their tiles as soon as the patent expired. Verso very clean, embossed Prosser's Patent, Minton & Co, Stone on Trent.
The image is full size at 72 dpi (about 430 pixels wide) in maximum quality JPEG format and on screen is about the size as it would be in real life at the same distance. A larger 120 dpi image also in maximum quality JPEG format can be forwarded by email if required. The image is a little oversize rather than cropped close to the edges so that the edges can easily be seen and any chips etc can be quickly spotted. Other marks described are usually not visible at all when the tile is viewed straight as one normally sees it and can only be seen with a critical eye when the tile is tilted to catch imperfections in reflected light. For more details of how we describe marks see Condition.

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