Well here is it – week 25 and the final instalment of our Minton mega-thread round-up. This bumper week-and-a-bit’s collection of #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton tweets brings us to the end of the ‘Minton’ manuscript and to the completion of a project we committed ourselves to way back in April. Just 175 days and 333 tweets later…
We sincerely hope this little Twitter-based adventure has been interesting and entertaining for you all – we’ve certainly learned a lot from Philip & Zillah Wadsworth’s extraordinary piece of work. To have snippets from the manuscript now available to view on the website (and appear in our search results!) is definitely a Good Thing, and we’re not finished with this resource yet either – not when our marathon ends on the 25th of September…
In 1925 the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes “sharply focussed the kaleidoscopic changes which were taking place in art and design, reflecting perhaps the dramatic disruption of post-war society in Europe”. [307/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 16, 2020
The avant-garde designs of this new movement found in the French section of the exhibition contrasted greatly with Minton’s display of their current production, where “the craze of novelty did not affect [Minton’s] style to any great extent”. [308/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 16, 2020
When it did reach England the exuberance of the French Art Deco was somewhat more muted, though “bright colours in sharp juxtaposition, random angular shapes against curved lines, geometrically simplified flowers & zigzag patterns” would appear. [309/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 17, 2020
Alongside Art Deco another theme emerged inspired by the machine age & insisting on “only the simplest, most functional forms” – a “fitness for purpose” that would ultimately be carried to its austere limit with the Utility pottery of WWII. [310/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 17, 2020
Throughout the 1920s both movements added to the difficulties Minton (& many other firms) were already facing, but the company was able to “weather the storm” by making the most of one area where rich decoration was still in demand. [311/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 18, 2020
“Service plates” – large, richly decorated plates which were used to welcome guests to their places before being removed as the first course arrived – arose as a custom in well-to-do American households from 1921, & many orders were received. [312/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 18, 2020
They were popular elsewhere too – other orders came from eastern rulers such as the Shah of Persia, & around 1926 a service was made for the City of Edinburgh which comprised over 1000 pieces (along with a coffee service of a further 300!). [313/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 18, 2020
Unfortunately the Great Depression was to arrive in the 1930s & “order books became thin & profits vanished. During that decade in fact only 2 years show a profit for the firm [&] inevitably there was much short time & many were out of work”. [314/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 19, 2020
Despite Minton’s support of interest-free loans for those in difficulty these “dark years” saw an irreversible loss of many highly skilled workers & a reluctance of parents to apprentice their children to a trade with a seemingly bleak future. [315/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 19, 2020
Stanley Woodman left Minton in 1928 & 2 years later, fresh from the Royal College of Art, Reginald Haggar succeeded him as Art Director. However, “Haggar was faced with a difficult task at a difficult time” & left the industry entirely in 1935. [316/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 20, 2020
Wadsworth, who was now freelancing for Minton (amongst other firms) from his studio in Stoke, was offered & accepted his old post as Art Director & set to work on “a particularly successful range of [earthenware] tableware called Solano”. [317/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 20, 2020
(A quick aside: along with a similarly-coloured range of kitchen ware ‘Solano’ ware was the last production of Minton’s earthenware works, which was closed in 1942 & never re-opened.) [318/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 20, 2020
At the same time Minton’s fine china production continued, particularly for the overseas markets, & these richly decorated pieces would have undoubtedly been exhibited on the company’s display at the 1939 World Fair in New York. [319/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 20, 2020
Indeed, during WWII this type of ware – “decorated with acid gold borders, gold tracery & raised gold […] or with borders of pâte-sur-pâte panels by Alboin Birks” & made exclusively for export – would’ve earned the country much-needed dollars. [320/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 20, 2020
“In 1935 John Hartill, a grandson of John Campbell, became Managing Director at Minton. Having successfully steered the firm through the crippling restrictions of [WWII] he was [now] faced with the [challenge of adapting] to post-war conditions.” [321/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 21, 2020
New opportunities arose in the sudden expansion of civilian flying (for which Wadsworth designed stackable ware for use in restricted spaces) & there were commissions for tableware for trains & aircraft used on Royal tours of the Commonwealth. [322/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 21, 2020
Minton’s post-war period also gave birth to its most successful tableware pattern, ‘Haddon Hall’. Designed by Wadsworth in 1948 for the ‘Fife’ shape (another of his designs) it was based on Elizabethan embroideries & Persian tile designs. [323/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 21, 2020
In 1946 Minton joined other manufacturers in celebrating the 750th anniversary of Lichfield Cathedral, with each china & glass manufacturer in the diocese presenting “the finest specimens of their work to the Cathedral.” [324/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 22, 2020
Minton’s tribute took the form of an “unusually” large bone china vase in a “beautiful shade of French green, with a cross repeated 4 times having the arms of St. Chad […] in the centre, & with the dates 1195-1945 on scarlet panels.” [325/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 22, 2020
(Just in the nick of time too: “The final piece had to be taken still warm from the kiln, wrapped in blankets to prevent cracking on sudden contact with the cold air, & driven “post-haste” to the Cathedral in time for the presentation ceremony”!) [326/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 22, 2020
“In 1953 The British Pottery Manufacturers Association decided to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II by offering a piece of fine china to Her Majesty” & the art directors of the fine china firms were asked to prepare designs. [327/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 23, 2020
From these submissions the Coronation Vase Committee of the Federation chose John Wadsworth’s, described in the manuscript as “a worthy successor to the many noble pieces Minton had made to honour great names & great occasions in the past.” [328/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 23, 2020
12 vases were made in total, the first for presentation to Her Majesty the Queen & the others for the 4 countries of the U.K. & the 7 countries which at the time formed the Commonwealth, & each differed in detail from the others. [329/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 24, 2020
Their creation “was a remarkable example of co-operation between the china firms”, with Minton responsible for the modelling of the vase, the engraving of the coats of arms, & the biscuit firing in one of the company’s old bottle ovens. [330/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 24, 2020
John Wadsworth died in 1955 & it was not until 1958 that his successor, Douglas Henson, was appointed. The earthenware works, which had closed in in 1942 (tweet no. 319) was sold & a new, larger china works gradually replaced the old factory. [331/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 25, 2020
"When in 1968 the firm was taken over by Doulton & Co. five generations of the family of Thomas Minton had guided its fortunes for one hundred & sixty-five years on the site on which the founder had built the original kilns." [332/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 25, 2020
And with that our tweeted-history adaptation of "Minton: 1793-1968" by Philip and Zillah Wadsworth is complete. We hope you've found the last 175 days(!) of tweets as interesting & entertaining as we have ? We're a little emotional right now… [333/] #WadsworthsHistoryofMinton
— The Minton Archive (@MintonArchive) September 25, 2020