Tile

Minton(s)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This tile depicts flying cranes, the Japanese symbol for longevity, above stylized waves in white on a deep blue ground. Dresser clearly looked to Japanese sources for inspiration and artistic guidance. The composition of the tile relates directly to a Japanese blue and white ceramic flowerpot, circa 1860, that was exhibited at the 1862 International Exhibition in London and later acquired by the South Kensington Museum (now Victoria and Albert Museum). Dresser's role as art advisor to Minton Ceramic Factory from the early 1860s remains unclear; however, as a free-lance artist, he created a multitude of designs for the firm, although he seems to have had little control over the final product. While none of the pieces made by Minton bear Dresser's signature, this tile can be firmly identified as his design based on drawings in the company archives.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art