Vase

1867
Simyan, Victor Etienne (designer)
Allen, Thomas (painter (artist))
Minton & Co. (maker)
Stoke on Trent
Earthenware, painted in enamels and majolica glazes
Shown at the Paris Exhibition of 1867

The painted decoration of this vase imitates maiolica (tin-glazed earthenware) and draws on a mixture of design sources from Italy, France and Flanders (now Belgium). The body of th base is painted with scenes of a boar hunt based on prints by the artist Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640). The captive warriors, who include the mythical figure of Prometheus on the lid, are based on 16th-century Italian models from Florence. The snakes are in the style of the 16th-century French ceramicist, Bernard Palissy (1510-1590).

This substantial vase and cover were made specifically for an international exhibition to demonstrate the technical and artistic superiority of their makers, Minton & Co. of Stoke-on-Trent. Objects of this size were acquired by public collections or by the most ambitious collectors with the grandest houses in which to display them.

This vase is one of two made for the Paris Exhibition of 1867, each painted with a different scene. This was the first showing of the model, and both examples were bought for the Museum. Still further variations were exhibited at the Paris Exhibition of 1878, where it was described as \'one of the noblest pieces ever produced\'.

The modeller of this vase was Victor Simyan (sometimes spelt Simian), a French sculptor who moved to Britain in about 1860. He founded his own workshop and designed for the pottery industry. His compatriot Leon Arnoux (1816-1902) had been art director at Minton\'s since 1849. The painter, Thomas Allen, was a local artist. As an apprentice at Minton\'s he studied at the Stoke-on-Trent School of Design from 1849. In 1852 he became one of the first students to be awarded a National Art Training Scholarship to the School of Design at Somerset House (the forerunner of the South Kensington Museum, later the V&A). He stayed with Minton\'s until 1875, when he left to join Wedgwood as chief designer.