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

Monday, October 5, 2020

Majolica Insects Part 1: Butteries & Moths

An inevitable result of the decoration of the Aesthetic Movement is that all manner of creatures from the natural world would appear in majolica. The least expected might be the lowly insect but as things would have it insect decoration on majolica has created some of the most stunning examples of form. The subject is so large we're going to look at the use of insects in two posts: Butteries and Moths first and; Beetles, Flies, Dragonflies and Other Insects next.

In world culture butterflies have been believed to symbolize the human soul, the path of life and immortality. In Christianity butterflies represent spiritual rebirth and have been thought to communicate messages from angels. In Chinese and ancient Greek legend the butterfly represents immortality while in Japanese culture a white butterfly represents the soul of an ancestor, a surprisingly common belief among many different cultures. In Native American culture a desire whispered to a butterfly will grant divine approval.

Moths are similar to butterflies in meaning but also take a darker turn: the desire to reach beyond one's grasp. The moth is attracted to the flame but is often burned in the process. A white moth is believed to represent the soul of a child.

The most famous of the many, many, representations of moths and butterflies in majolica may be the Minton butterfly plate but equally gorgeous pieces were made by all the major potteries. Let’s begin with with the boldest of these pieces, the giant butterfly from the Massier pottery. This large, impressive piece is terribly rare but oh so glorious!

Massier majolica butterfly

Massier used butterflies and moths in other pieces as well, most beautifully as decoration for their jardinieres and wall pockets.

I mentioned the Minton butterfly plates earlier and they are extraordinary! There are at least 13 different different designs that I know of as well as sold colored examples. They are shown here in this page from the Minton archive. These designs were just a guide as the colors could vary from plate to plate. The plates were made in both majolica and decorated earthenware.

Minton majolica butterfly plate
Minton majolica butterfly plate
Minton majolica butterfly plate
Minton majolica Prussian blue butterfly plate
Minton majolica butterfly plate

Minton majolica butterfly plates

Minton incorporated butterflies and moths as decoration in other pieces such as this wonderful woodpecker vase.

Minton majolica woodpecker vase

An equally famous group of butterfly wares were made by George Jones. The large orchid and butterfly dresser plaque is stunning as are all of the other pieces where Jones uses butterflies and moths. Butterflies were also often used as finials in some hollowware pieces

George Jones majolica dresser stand

George Jones majolica vase

George Jones majolica butterfly footed bowl

George Jones majolica butterfly bowl



George Jones majolica butter dish

George Jones majolica muffin server

George Jones majolica match box

George Jones majolica patch box

George Jones majolica watch holder

George Jones majolica candlestick

George Jones majolica tray

George Jones majolica tray

Wedgwood made its share of majolica butterflies as well, most notably in applied decoration in the Tremblay and Key patterns and molded into the design of the Lincoln and Tropic patterns.

Wedgwood Griffen dessert plate

Wedgwood Griffenn  dessert plate

Wedgwood Griffen dessert plate

Wedgwood Lincoln pitcher

Wedgwood Lincoln dessert plate

Wedgwood Lincoln platter

Wedgwood Tropic dessert plate

Wedgwood Tropic dessert plate

Holdcroft used butterflies on these vases and ice cream sets



Other English potters also took advantage of beautiful butterflies as well.

Royal Worcester made this charming place card holder and Aesthetic Movement teapot.



Fielding made a range of pieces incorporating butterflies and moths, mainly the Fan & Scroll and the Bird and Bamboo series as well as a lovely mustache cup with a dragonfly mustache guard.

Fielding majolica ice cream tray





Fielding majolica mustache cup

Wardle has a Fan series that includes butterflies.

Wardle Fan majolica  jug

Wardle majolica Fan tea set

Copeland used butterfly decor on this stunning jardiniere.

Banks & Thorley sometimes used butterfly handles in their Bamboo series of pitchers and tea hollowwares.

Brown-Westhead Moore used butterflies in their Wicker design and on this moon vase.


Forester used a butterfly in their butterfly lip pitcher and Shorter & Boulton made a nice basket.

Forester butterfly lip pitcher

Shorter & Boulton majolica basket

This lovely Victoria Pottery basket featured a butterfly.

In America, the Etruscan Works––Griffen, Smith and Company––also had pieces with butterflies on their butter dish, wall pocket, Lily cheese bell and their version of the Forester butterfly lip pitcher.


Etruscan Majolica Lily cheese bell

Etruscan Majolica butterfly spout pitcher

Etruscan Majolica butter dish

The Trenton Eureka pottery used a butterfly in their version of one of the Wedgwood Lincoln plates.

Eureka majolica plate

The Baltimore Avalon clock has a bit of color in a butterfly decoration.

Baltimore Avalon majolica clock

The companies in France and Germany used butterflies and moths liberally in their designs. The majolica of Fives Lille have a number of pieces with moths and butterflies such as these two wall pockets and pitcher.

Fives Lille wall pocket
Fives Lille morning glory wall pockets

Fives Lille majolica jug

This plate by Wasmuël placed a butterfly front and center as they did with this condiment tray and pitcher.

Wasmuël majolica butterfly plate

The Faïencerie de Nimy produced this stunning large pitcher with a butterfly.

Onnaing made a number of variations of this large pitcher with multiple butterflies.

Theodore Deck made this box.
Theodore Deck box with butterfly finial

Villauris made this handsome wall pocket with a butterfly.
Villauris wall pocket

The Austrian company of Josef Steidl made a full set of butterfly dessert plates which were offered in multiple colors. The design influence of the Minton butterfly plate is unmistakable.
Josef Steidl butterfly plate
Josef Steidl butterfly dessert stand

Lastly, you can’t talk about majolica moths and butterflies without mentioning the Palissy pieces from Portugal and France. You would be hard pressed to find a palissy plaque without at least one little insect critter worked into the design, quite often a moth or butterfly as in these three pieces from Joseph Cunha of Caldas and these unmarked French Palissy vases and plaques show. We'll tie up this section with a Caldas palissy butterfly wall pocket.



Of course there are examples we've missed but with a topic this large it's inevitable. 

In the next post we'll take a look at other insects, both flying and creepy crawlers.

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