The designer of Minton's "Essex Birds" series managed to distill the experience of a strol...
The designer of Minton's "Essex Birds" series managed to distill the experience of a stroll through the English countryside into simple, but ever so artful, compositions featuring avian and plant life.
In the lower left quadrant of this luncheon plate a songbird with a brilliant orange-red enameled head pauses to peer into a cluster of salmon blossoms. A lover of floral beauty or the seeker of some luncheon size insect?
As was its practice with successful designs, Minton produced "Essex Birds" in a number of different color variations, different clay bodies, and different ground colors. In this example, a stark white ground sets off the colorfully enameled composition. The octagonal shape chosen adds interest. No border--none needed.