wall tile

Minton's China Works

Summary

Public: Panel of two dust-pressed earthenware tiles, decorated with overglaze enamel colours, illustrating the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill. Private: Panel of two square dust-pressed earthenware tiles, decorated with overglaze enamel colours which include green, blue, red, yellow, brown and black, illustrating the nursery rhyme Jack and Jill. The tiles depict a hill with a path leading up to a hut (well?) near its summit; on this path, in the foreground Jack and Jill are carrying a wooden pail full of and spilling water. Jack is on the left hand tile, wearing a bowler-like hat and watched by a goose behind him. Jill is on the right hand tile and wears a bonnet. To her left/our right are three more geese in the middle distance.

Display Label

Gallery text panel In Pursuit of Beauty Late Victorian Art and Design Improving the quality of British art and design had been a concern since the 1850s. The British Empire had expanded into new continents but it was the classical ideal of beauty, based on Ancient Greek and Roman culture that was still considered the model for serious art. The pursuit of beauty was a form of escapism from the mass-production of industrial Britain. As well as looking to the ancient world, artists and designers were delighted and inspired by the arts of Renaissance Italy, the Middle and Far East. Many of the paintings here feature a beautiful woman. Sometimes she is a passive, decorative form, but often she is a dark and brooding femme fatale, a symbol of seduction, deception and destruction. The 'fatal woman' may reflect late Victorian male fears as women campaigned for equal rights and new roles. The emphasis on colour, harmony and rhythm and simplifying the form of an object would become major concerns in the 20th century. They can be seen emerging here in the work of late Victorian artists and designers.