'Secessionist Ware' dish

This shallow earthenware bowl is one of a pair of ‘fruit baskets’ that were produced by Minton & Co. in the period 1902-1912. Each bowl is stamped with the manufacturer’s mark ‘Mintons’ on its underside and incised with the shape number ‘3519’. [1] Both objects form part of Sir Colin Anderson’s collection of Art Nouveau and were acquired by Sir Colin between 1960 and 1974.

The pair of fruit baskets reveals two different colour-ways from Minton’s trademarked ‘Secessionist Ware’ product line (see object number 21024B). [2] When this range first launched in 1900 it was named ‘Anglosia Ware’. [3] It is possible that the manufacturer’s desire to link the wares with a contemporary progressive art movement led to the rebranding of the range as ‘Secessionist’. [4]

The slipcast dish has a circular base and a square undulating rim. This particular bowl has a pale blue and light brown glazed border with an asymmetrical decoration of hydrangea and foliage executed in olive green, light brown, blue and white glaze. The ceramic has been moulded to give an attractive outline to the design, which loosely holds the glaze in cells. Extant examples of the Secessionist product line reveal that some pieces combined relief-moulded decoration with hand applied tube-lined slip decoration. [5] In principle, this ceramic technique is strikingly similar to cloisonné enamelling. The range is named after the restricted colour palette and decorative schemes developed in Vienna in the late nineteenth century by Secessionist artists.

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