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.

We think of the Japanese influence on aesthetic movement ceramics in terms of highly stylized designs, fretwork ground patterns and specifically Japanese motifs. Yet another ornamental strain of the time shows the influence of Japanese prints with spontaneous views of nature that abandon traditional composition for odd angles and unconventional placement on the plate. In this vein, "Essex Birds" is the airborn equivalent of Minton's watery "Aquarium" series.

Elsewhere on this website are listed other octagonal "Essex Birds" plates in earthenware as well as a circular set in porcelain.