A look at the design, market and legacy of Victorian pottery

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Elephants vs, Donkeys, Part 2

As we saw in our previous post, the Republican elephant has had significant representation in majolica. Now it's time to look at the Democratic donkey.

As the humble creatures they are, donkeys are almost always represented in majolica for the utilitarian use they have to mankind. Not very grand but still proud in their simple dignity, donkeys are our beasts of burden. No company has been more conscious of them than the frėres Massier, who have done a number of donkeys in majolica.


Massier donkey wall pocket







Minton, George Jones and other English and European companies made donkey majolica as well though not as many as made elephant majolica.

Minton majolica boy with donkey

Jones majolica donkey condiment 

Jones majolica donkey

Royal Worcester majolica donkey

Menton majolica donkey wall pocket

Orchies majolica donkey pitcher


St. Uze majolica bank

Majolica boy with donkey compote

So concludes our look at the symbols of the two major American parties. Like the political parties they represent, they offer distinctly different personalities in their majolica incarnations. You make the choice of which appeals to you.

Fun Fact: The union of a male horse and female donkey creates a hinny. The union of a male donkey and a female horse creates a mule!

No comments:

Post a Comment