Léon Arnoux and the Invention of Victorian Majolica

If it wasn’t for Léon Arnoux, there would probably be no Victorian majolica. 

Joseph François Léon Arnoux was born in 1816 in Toulouse, France into a family of potters. His father Antione owned a porcelain pottery in St. Sernin in Toulouse and had the resources to send his eldest son, Léon, to school for engineering and design. After graduation, Léon began working with his father in St. Sernin but the unstable French political atmosphere and the financial panic that ensued led to the bankruptcy of the pottery. The following chaos of the French Revolution of 1848 led him to leave France and explore the potteries of England. There he toured the factories of Staffordshire studying technique until he eventually landed at Minton. 

Pottery at Toulouse owned by Antoine Arnoux

Joseph François Léon Arnoux c.1848

Herbert Minton

Colin Minton Campbell worked with Arnoux at Minton

 after his uncle's death in 1858 

Minton factory

Arnoux was first hired at Minton as a Superintendent in June 1849 to explore the development of hard-paste porcelain to compete with the work done at Sèvres and Meissen on the continent. His training at Sèvres as an artist and designer as well as work at his father's factory made him ideal for such an assignment. His work impressed Minton sufficiently for him to name him Art Director in charge of both the technical and artistic direction of the pottery. With porcelain development unable to compete with that already in the market he turned his attention to earthenware. 

His initial work with earthenware at Minton was on their dust-pressed Prossers Patented tiles. 

Minton majolica glazed Prossers Patented tile

From here he moved onto copying the opaque tin-glazed colored terracotta of the 15th century Italian Renaissance and the work of the Della Robbia Workshop. He accompanied Herbert Minton and Colin Minton Campbell on a trip touring Europe for inspiration on this new line. The tin-glazed ware that resulted he called majolica, a line similar to what we refer to as maiolica today. At the time the term majolica was the standard 19th century English term to describe the highly ornate hand decorated 15th and 16th century ware from Italy, Majorca, France and Spain.

Giovanni della Robbia, Resurrection of Christ

Workshop of the Fontana family ca. 1562–75

Workshop of Maestro Giorgio Andreoli c.1528

Minton tin-glazed majolica urn c. 1862

Minton majolica tin-glazed. jardiniere and pedestal

Minton majolica tin-glazed charger, Cupid stealing the thunder from Jupiter

Minton majolica tin-glazed loving cup

Minton majolica tin-glazed charger

Minton tin-glazed majolica plaque

He then turned his attention to the French ware of Bernard Palissy. As a Frenchman he was exposed to Palissy’s work at a young age. His studies in chemistry led to his development of brightly colored transparent high-lead content glazes that were an imitation of the Palissy ware of 15th century France. This type of ware he called Palissy ware. This new glaze differed from the earlier developed majolica in that the tin-glazes used in majolica were largely opaque.

Bernard Palissy plaque

Bernard Palissy plaque

The advantage of Palissy ware was that numerous different color glazes could be applied at the same time to a biscuit ceramic and not require different temperatures for firing different colors. Wedgwood, Whieldon and Greatbach had pioneered this type of multicolored lead glazed earthenware in the 18th century but no other pottery had followed up in this work in the 100 years since its development. The Palissy ware glazes had a higher concentration of lead in the glaze and were applied over highly molded earthenware bodies at relatively low cost producing a finish of high gloss that was appealing to the eye and inexpensive to manufacture. They did not require the expensive decorative work of Arnoux’s tin-glazed majolica.

Herbert Minton was eager to put on an exceptional high profile display that would cement Minton’s place as the premier English pottery. With the 1851 Crystal Palace Exposition just around the corner, Minton and Arnoux devoted all of Minton's resources to combining both majolica and Palissy ware glazes for exhibition pieces for the show. In addition to showing its own display, the Minton factory contributed Palissy ware tiles to the large Pugin designed stove for John Hardman & Co. shown at the exhibition.

Chromolithograph of Minton display of Palissy ware jardinieres 

from the 1851 Exhibition

Minton Palissy ware jardiniere. designed foe 1851 Exhibition

Minton Palissy ware jardiniere. designed foe 1851 Exhibition

Minton Palissy ware jardiniere. designed for the 1851 Exhibition

Chromolithograph of the large Pugin stove for John Hardman & Co. showing five 

different Minton Palissy ware tiles. Some designs were 

repeated in different colorways on the stove.

Minton tile from the Pugin stove

Minton tile from the Pugin stove

Minton tile from the Pugin stove

Minton tile from the Pugin stove

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin (1812-1852)

Minton's display proved to be a great success. In the words of  architect M. Digby Wyatt who assembled an illustrated catalog for the exhibition:

"So free and original is Mr. Minton's version of Majolica ware, that we can scarcely refuse to it the merit of of great novelty. Both in modeling and execution, it is a very favourable specimen of the productions ot his celebrated manufactory…" 

In time both Minton's Palissy ware and majolica became known as majolica. Today the tin-glazed majolica is rather rare as it wasn't a success for Minton. The lead-glazed Palissy ware however proved to be a sensation. This new majolica started an international trend in pottery that was to last for over 60 years.

Arnoux remained associated with Mintons for the remainder of his life eventually becoming a partner at the incorporation of the firm in 1885. Even after his retirement in 1892 he remained a consultant with Mintons assisting the company during a financial crisis. His contribution in the development of Mintons’ many lines cannot be overstated. He brought in from France the best sculptors, painters and modelers he could get and created, along with Minton, a school to educate artists in pottery decoration. He even patented a more efficient downdraft oven for firing the ware. 

Arnoux’s revolutionary downdraft oven invented for Mintons

Lé0n Arnoux in his later years

He also developed numerous other bodies and finishes for Mintons that are outside the focus of this blog. For more detailed information on Arnoux's enormous contribution to Minton view this video prepared by the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery. He died in 1902 and is buried in Staffordshire near the Minton factory he devoted his career to.

The grave of Léon Arnoux at Hartshill Cemetary in Staffordshire

The Strange Tale of the Minton Majolica Loch Ard Peacock

One of the more unusual stories in the history of majolica is that of the Minton majolica Loch Ard peacock.

The British Loch Ard clipper c.1873

The Loch Ard was a three mast iron hulled British clipper ship built in 1863 by the Loch Line of Glasgow to carry cargo and passengers between Liverpool and Melbourne. On March 2, 1878 it left England bound for Melbourne, its third such trip, heavy with cargo and 54 passengers onboard—17 civilians and a crew of 37. Among the cargo onboard were items destined for display at the 1880 International Exhibition in Melbourne. One of these items was a Minton majolica peacock.

 Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Australia 1880

The Minton peacock is a life-sized sculpture by French artist Paul Comolera modeled in 1870 and created in majolica in 1873 specifically for Minton. The statue stands slightly under five feet tall with the peacock on a highly detailed rock surrounded by various flora and fauna. Minton only made twelve of these peacocks, although that number is in dispute, and it is believed that nine have survived. It is considered to be among the last surviving examples of Minton’s finest majolica work.

English Registration photo for the Minton peacock

The Minton majolica peacock

After an uneventful voyage, on May 31, 1878, the Loch Ard encountered bad weather that culminated in a thick fog. The ship veered off course as the ship approached the Australian coast. As the fog lifted in the early hours of June 1, the captain was horrified to discover that the ship had drifted far closer to the coast near Mutton Bird Island than had been expected. Despite attempts to draw the ship back out to sea the vessel crashed against the rocky reef surrounding the island.

The crash devastated the ship. The three masts crumbled blocking attempts to launch the lifeboats and killing some onboard. The vessel sank in fifteen minutes.

A contemporary engraving of the scene on the

Loch Ard as the passengers and crew rush to get to the lifeboats.

All but two of the passengers and crew onboard drowned. The survivors were a teenaged civilian named Eveline (Eva) Carmichael, who lost seven members of her family in the wreck, and a teenaged apprentice midshipman named Tom Pearce. Pearce found his way to shore first when he saw Carmichael struggling to stay afloat in the ocean on a piece of wood. He returned to the water and dragged Eva to safety. The area in which they landed is an area now known as Loch Ard Gorge. The two sheltered in caves on the shore until a local farmer rescued them. The ship itself was considered a total loss. 

Eveline Carmichael

Tom Pearce

A contemporary newspaper account of the wreck encouraged a 

romance between the two teenagers but they had no interest.

A cave at Loch Ard Gorge where the survivors sheltered

Loch Ard Gorge

As word spread of the wreck, a local gentleman by the name of Charles McGillivray found the crate holding the Minton peacock floating in the water and dragged it ashore within a few days of the ship's sinking with hopes of salvaging it. After a disagreement with customs officials over the find, McGillivray abandoned the peacock on the shore. Enter James Miller and Thomas Keys. 

Miller was a member of a firm that had bought the salvage rights to the Loch Ard for £2,120  ten days after the disaster. After McGillivray abandoned the peacock on the shore, a storm washed the peacock back into the sea. Miller and Keys had to save it from the ocean for a second time. Before they had a chance to bring the peacock inland, another storm washed the peacock back into the sea. Now, the peacock had been lost and rescued three times from the ocean. When McGillivray first brought the peacock to shore he claimed it was intact except for a chip on the beak. After the third attempt to bring the peacock to land Keys claimed that the bird had the head broken off.

Salvage operations on the remainder of the cargo concluded quickly. £3,000 worth of the cargo that had been salvaged was swept back into the ocean after a storm. It would be another 90 years before the surviving cargo was salvaged. James Miller decided to keep the peacock for himself. It remained with his family until 1940. It was then offered for sale at an antique shop, where it sat for three years until it was sent to auction in 1943. The buyer was Frank Ridley-Lee who kept it in his home in suburban Melbourne. It remained with the Ridley-Lee family until 1975 when it was offered for sale at auction for $4,500—equivalent to approximately $25,000 today. Unable to find a buyer, the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village in Warrnambool raised money through private donations to purchase the bird for their museum. Today it is on display in the Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village Museum with other objects rescued from the ship where it is known as the Loch Ard Peacock. It's ironic that as a bird the peacock symbolizes survival and resurrection, something this Minton majolica piece certainly speaks to as well.

The Loch Ard peacock on display at the Flagstaff Hill 

Maritime Village Museum in Warrnambool

Pearce and Carmichael remained in Australia for several weeks after the wreck to recover from their trauma. Pearce was lauded as an hero for saving Carmichael and both became local celebrities. Newspapers encouraged a romance between the two teenagers but neither one expressed any interest in the other and the two went their separate ways. Both eventually returned to Great Britain and married others. Tom died in 1909 after a successful career as a captain for the Royal Mail and Eveline died in 1934 after raising a family of three and returning to her birth home of Ireland.

The wreck of the Lock Ard was declared a heritage site on the Victorian Heritage register and remains at the bottom of the ocean off Mutton Bird Island. It has become a tourist attraction for those divers interested in exploring it. It is considered to be among the worst ship wrecks ever to occur off the Australian coast, a coast known for its hundreds of ship wrecks.

The remains of the Loch Ard today

With a value today of over a hundred thousand dollars, the Loch Ard peacock is believed to be the single most famous, and valuable, cargo salvaged from any ship wreck in all of Australia. 

So ends the peculiar tale of the Minton majolica Loch Ard peacock.

To watch a short video surveying recovered treasures from the Loch Ard shipwreck go here.

The Minton Majolica Gaselier

London Crystal Palace

The 1862 International Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London is notable for featuring the most fabulous single piece of majolica ever created, the Minton St. George Fountain. However, there was another fabulous, now lost, large piece of majolica that was created for the show—the Minton gaselier.

A hall in the Crystal Palace with the Minton St. George fountain 

in the foreground.

The gaselier was a large gas chandelier that stood 8’6” tall and 4’ wide. Located in the entrance of the Minton booth at the Crystal Palace, it was made to take advantage of the new gas lighting available to the middle class in modern construction. Although gas lighting was introduced in public spaces in London in the early 1800s it really wasn’t until the last half of the century that it found its way to private homes. Up until then oil light was the traditional form of lighting in the home. 

Minton booth at the 1862 Crystal Palace Exhibition

There were actually three different designs for the gaselier created by Minton though we only have photographs of one and concept drawings of the other two. I don't know if the other designs were ever manufactured. 

These chandeliers were not produced in great quantity. In fact we have no idea of how many were actually produced. None have survived to the author’s knowledge but photographs and the original design drawings give us an idea of how it might have looked. I suspect the trough around the base is intended as a container for plants.

Photograph of the Minton gaselier with its glass shades 

in the Minton museum in Stoke-on-Trent

The gaselier in the center of the Minton museum c. 1889

Composed of several sections, the middle section is identical to a familiar Minton garden seat. This gives us an idea of how large this was and how it must have looked.

Minton majolica garden seat

The concept drawing from the Minton pattern books show us how the other sections coordinated with this to make a striking, colorful chandelier. We show how it compares to the other gaselier designs from the Minton pattern books.

Drawing of the Minton majolica gaselier

Alternate design for a gaselier

Alternate design for a gaselier

The 1862 Exhibition catalog gives us another look at the gaselier.

It's unfortunate that none of these gaseliers have survived but like the St. George Fountain they are a legacy of great majolica lost to the ages.