Resting

Titled ‘Resting’, this panel is one of a set of four experimental plaques that were developed by Minton for the Arts and Crafts Exhibition in 1896. Léon Victor Solon (1872-1957) designed the surface decoration for this porcelain plaque while employed at Minton.

Executed in enamels and glazes, the artist depicts a woman reclining on a deck chair, fashionably attired in a long lilac dress and a cape edged in black fur. She appears to be admiring the view from her position on the lawn, in front of the white façade of a classical style building. Another surviving work by Solon and Minton from this series shows a woman seated on a throne clasping a heart to her bosom. [1] Both works are signed ‘L V Solon’ in gilt in the lower right corner.

Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Léon Solon attended the Hanley School of Art before winning a scholarship to the South Kensington School of Art in London. [2] Although Solon’s main interest was in ceramics, specifically slipware, he also excelled at graphics and produced posters, illustrations, and cover designs for The Studio: An Illustrated Magazine of Fine and Applied Art. [3] The stylistic influence of graphic artists, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Aubrey Beardsley and Alphonse Mucha can be observed in his surface designs for decorative ceramics.

Léon Solon was the son of French ceramist Louis Marc Solon, who had joined Minton in 1870 and introduced the pâte-sur-pâte technique. [4] Léon Solon was recruited by Minton as a designer in 1895. An advocate of the ‘New Art’ style, he succeeded in reviving the fortunes of the languishing company with his fresh vision. [5] In 1903, he rose to the position of art director at Minton but left the company shortly after in order to pursue opportunities in the United States. [6]

Sir Colin Anderson added the ceramic plaque to his Art Nouveau collection in 1964.

Vanessa Tothill, March 2021

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