On the cusp of another mini-milestone here’s instalment number 19 in our #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton round-up series. This week’s collection of ‘Minton’ manuscript tweets focus on Marc Louis Solon, Antonin Boullemier, & Paul Comolera, the French artists who arrived in England after the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war in 1870.
When Sèvres was evacuated Solon came to England & was introduced to Colin Minton Campbell who welcomed him to the Minton works. In October 1870 Solon began preliminary trials of bodies & glazes, helped no doubt by Léon Arnoux. [230/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 5, 2020
Problems encountered at Sèvres, especially with the cracking & peeling of the slip as it dried & the unsatisfactory solutions used to combat this, were overcome & Solon adopted this new method for his work at Minton using the firm's parian body. [231/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 5, 2020
Around the same time as Solon was brought into the company several other French artists joined Minton too, adding to those already working for the firm. One such artist was Antonin Boullemier who, like Solon, had also been trained at Sèvres. [232/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 6, 2020
Known for his scenes with cupids "[h]e worked at Minton until the day when Colin Minton Campbell ventured to criticise his work. Stung by what he considered an attack on his reputation as an artist, he walked out & tore up his contract." [233/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 6, 2020
Boullemier continued to work for Minton however – albeit through his own studio – & decorated many important pieces for them. One customer insisted on "'absolutely the best miniature painting that [he] can do & price must not stand in the way.'". [234/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 7, 2020
Another French artist "brought to Minton by the misfortunes of war" was Paul Comolera, a fine animal sculptor perhaps best known for his life-size peacock, an example of which you can see on display in the ceramics gallery @PotteriesMuseum. [235/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 8, 2020
(1 of the 9 peacocks produced was shipped to Australia aboard the 'Loch Ard' which sank off Moonlight Heads, Victoria. The wreck was bought for salvage & the crate containing the peacock – still intact! – was successfully recovered.) [236/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 8, 2020
"Comolera was a great lover of animals & almost converted his workshop into a menagerie. On one occasion he borrowed a fine stag from Trentham Park. He had it tethered in his studio in charge of 4 keepers and made a magnificent study of it." [237/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 9, 2020
On another occasion the tactful intervention of Léon Arnoux was required when Comolera accused his friend Boullemier of ill-treating his Persian cat while he had been away by spending the money for its food & even drinking its milk ? [238/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 9, 2020
"[T]he French artists working at Minton during the period of the firm's greatest expansion were an important factor in building up the worldwide reputation of Minton china", but "Fine craftsmanship was by no means confined to the Frenchmen". [239/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 10, 2020
In 1871 Minton took part in another international exhibition in London & once again came in for particular praise, with a writer in the Graphic calling their turquoise blue "'the finest in the world, they cannot work the same colour at Sèvres'". [240/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 11, 2020
The Art Journal was similarly impressed with Minton's display: in their exhibition catalogue they praised the firm's fountain, wine cooler, & the perfection with which "'the able designs of Mr. Alfred Stevens'" had been carried out. [241/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) August 11, 2020