An Early Minton Majolica 'Tavern' Ale Jug, formed as a tapering medieval flagon, the figures molded in high relief and applied, depicting a man and woman dancing, a seated figure with a pipe, and two drunk men on a cobalt blue and brown mottled ground, with a large Gothic bail handle, the interior glazed in green, the reverse with molded British Registry Diamond for July 4, 1852 and impressed marks 'MINTON' and date cypher for 1862. Design number 487, 'Jug with Modelled Figures, Scene of Revelry' as recorded in the Minton Ornamental Shape (i.e. design books) preserved in the Minton archives and reprinted in J. Jones.

The piece has incredible heft and presence; in excellent antique condition.

BOOK REFERENCES:

Sotheby’s New York, ENGLISH MAJOLICA FROM A PRIVATE

COLLECTION. New York: Sotheby’s, March 11, 1997, sale number 6958;

Lot number 142.

Joan Jones, MINTON: THE FIRST TWO HUNDRED YEARS OF DESIGN

AND PRODUCTION. Shrewsbury, England: Swan Hill Press, 1993, p. 345.

Minton Ornamental Shapes (i.e., design numbers) listed in Appendix E,

pp. 343-377, and illustrated on p. 153.

Marilyn G. Karmason and Joan B. Stacke, MAJOLICA, A Complete History

and Illustrated Survey. New York: Harry N. Abrams Publishers, Second

Edition, 2002, p. 43.

Nicholas M. Dawes, MAJOLICA. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc., 1990, p.

53, Figure 86.