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.
On this dinner plate, a tiny but brilliantly--perhaps whimsically--enameled song bird perches near a bough of pink and white apple blossoms that nearly encircles the plate.
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.