Majolica in the Movies: Kinky Boots

If you at all watched the Tony Awards a couple weeks ago you couldn't help but see that the awards show was totally dominated this year by a musical called Kinky Boots. With a book by Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy) and music by the irrepressible Cyndi Lauper (Girls Just Want to Have Fun), Kinky Boots is currently the hottest ticket on Broadway.

The musical is based on a 2006 movie also called Kinky Boots which itself is based on a documentary by the BBC. It is the true story of a British shoe manufacturer who saved his family shoe making factory by changing the focus of the business by catering to the fetish cross-dressing shoe market.
The movie stars Joel Edgarton as the desperate factory owner and Chiwetel Ejiofor as Lola the transvestite who becomes the inspiration as well as the designer of the first line of kinky boots. A wilder true story is hard to imagine but it's really a charming movie. Much to our surprise though, majolica too finds its way into in this unorthodox story in an extremely unorthodox way!

In a scene that takes place in Lola's rented room she sits at her dresser in a robe with her wig on a wig rest. When her landlady comes into the room she removes the wig from the rest and pops it on her head. And what does Lola use as a wig rest? Why, a Sarreguemines majolica face jug of course!

I  must admit it made me chuckle when I saw it. It seemed so in character with the Lola persona to use a majolica pitcher as a wig rest that it was brilliant!

Sarreguemines majolica grotesque jug

Of course the story all comes to a happy ending with everyone wiser for the experience by learning tolerance.

What a joy it was to find the pitcher in this sweet movie. To view the trailer go here.

Who Knew?

Every once and a while I go through the statistics here at Blogger to see what the most popular topics are on my blog, i.e. those that get the most hits. While some of them are totally predictable, such as my posts on the Bethesda Fountain and the ever popular Sarreguemines fruit plates, others catch me totally off guard. In this last category are topics I would have never dreamt would interest the number of people who have sought them out.

The biggest surprise is the interest in my post on Wannopee Lettuce Leaf majolica.

Now Wannopee is not a common majolica form. It was only made for a brief period and isn't as widely collected as, say, Minton Oyster plates--a post in the top ten most popular on this site--yet it has drawn a disproportionate number of hits on this blog. It even draws more traffic than my post on George Jones Cheese stands!

Orchies majolica cat pitcher

Another post that draws considerable traffic to this blog is my post on French Animal Pitchers. Given the popularity of the Sarreguemines Fruit series plates it probably shouldn't surprise me but it does.

The five posts with the most hits are as follows:

1. Bethesda Fountain and Terrace
2. Sarreguemines Fruit series 
3. French Animal Pitchers
4. Minton Majolica Oyster Plates
5. Minton Majolica Tiles

It shouldn't surprise anyone that three of the top five relate to the Minton factory, and indeed it does not. What does surprise are the four posts that follow these:

1. Wannopee Lettuce Leaf Majolica
2. George Jones Cheese Domes
3. In Praise of the Humble Begonia Leaf
4. Choisy Le Roi Game Bird Series

An odd collection of topics if there ever was one! The only comment I can make here references their striking dissimilarity.

So that's what is popular right now on this blog after 219 posts.

I do expect it to change in the near future. My recent posts on Minton Date Codes and Wedgwood pottery marks have in a very short period of time become immensely popular posts that I expect will quickly find themselves in the top five before long.

But if you're at all curious about what people want to know about majolica on the Internet, you have the results right here, for better or for worse.

Who knew?

Majolica Napkin Plates

The napkin plate seems to be another of those peculiarly unique Victorian conceits. Made in a number of different bodies, napkin plates flourished in majolica, no doubt because the level of realism majolica offered. Popular in both Europe and the United States, most of the major potteries made some version of it.
For those unfamiliar with the design, a napkin plate tries to imitate the look of a napkin laid on top of a china or basket weave plate. The plate is always visible to some degree with the sole exception of the napkin designs made by Sarreguemines. These are designed to look like plates inside folded napkins.

In Great Britain, George Jones led the way with a number of different designs. Their Strawberry Server and Horse Chestnut designs are particularly well known, having been made in prodigious quantities. While white napkins are the most common on these designs I have also seen them in turquoise, cobalt and pink.

George Jones majolica strawberry server

GJ majolica chestnut plate

Jones majolica chestnut plate

George Jones majolica chestnut plate

Minton made several napkin plates.

Minton majolica individual strawberry server plate

Minton majolica individual strawberry server plate

Wedgwood's napkin plate is particularly attractive with its checkered napkin.

Wedgwood majolica Mat plate

Wedgwood majolica Mat plate

This tazza, believed to be by Fielding, is also a napkin plate.

In the United States both the Etruscan Works and Morley Offered napkin plates...

GSH majolica napkin plate

Morley majolica napkin plate

...while on the continent, a number of companies embraced the form.

Wasmuël napkin plate souvenir from 1889 Paris Exposition

Choisy-le-Roi majolica asparagus cradle

Villeroy & Boch majolica napkin plate

Villeroy & Boch majolica napkin platter

Wasmuël napkin strawberry server

Wasmuël majolica napkin plate

Sarreguemines napkin plates

Sarreguemines majolica egg terrine

Sarreguemines majolica napkin platter

Sarreguemines majolica asparagus terrine

Sarreguemines majolica asparagus server

Sarreguemines majolica oyster basket

The egg basket  and box directly above are part of the series I mentioned at the start of this post, a large series made by Sarreguemines that uses folded napkins as a basis for containers and platters. It is the idea of the napkin plate taken to its logical conclusion: a napkin by itself as a plate. You really can't take this idea any further than that!

Continental Majolica Banks

Wherever you find collections of continental majolica you will find majolica banks

These were very popular in Europe as gifts for children and were manufactured for a very long time. In France there were several manufacturers of these banks, or timelines as they were referred to: Sarreguemines, Orchies, La Faiencerie d'Onnaing and St. Clement were all known to have manufactured them, some well into the latter part of the 20th Century. 

Catalog page of Onnaing bank molds

Some Desvres majolica banks on the left side of their catalog page spread

They were also manufactured in Austria, Germany and Czechoslovakia. Many of the designs used in production for tobacco humidors, bottles and pitchers were adapted for use as banks as well. It is generally these pieces that bring the highest prices.

St. Clement majolica cat money box

St. Clement majolica dog money box

St. Clement majolica dog money box

Orchies majolica dog head bank

Desvres majolica bank

Sarreguemines majolica Red Riding Hood

Saint Clément majolica head bank

Onnaing majolica pomegranate bank

Saint Amand majolica pigeon bank

Onnaing majolica hen bank

Austrian majolica bulldog bank

Onnaing majolica escargot bank

Onnaing majolica cat bank

Onnaing majolica turtle bank

Wasmuël majolica dog bank

Wasmuël majolica dog bank

Onnaing majolica dog bank

St. Uze majolica dog bank

Onnaing majolica zeppelin bank

Rodent majolica bank 

Fives-Lille majolica gourd bank

Fives-Lille majolica smoking cat bank

Saint Clément majolica duck bank

Sarreguemines majolica bank

Sarreguemines majolica buggy bank

St. Clément majolica typewriter bank

Onnaing majolica dice back

Onnaing majolica dice back

Orchies majolica bank

Orchies majolica bank

Saint Clément Native American chief bank

Saint Clément majolica elephant bank

Orchies majolica cabbage baby

Onnaing majolica frog bank

Orchies majolica elephant bank

Poet-Laval majolica duck bank

Saint Clément majolica duck bank

Sarreguemines majolica dog bank

Desvres majolica dove bank

Onnaing majolica bank Chinoise

Orchies majolica duck bank

Massier boar majolica bank

Onnaing majolica boar bank

St. Clément majolica barrel bank

Sarreguemines majolica bank

Orchies majolica apple bank

Desvres majolica pear bank

Majolica chestnut bank

Lisieux majolica peasant woman bank

Lisieux majolica peasant man bank

St. Uze majolica donkey bank

St. Uze majolica cockatoo bank

Onnaing majolica squirrel bank

Desvres majolica rabbit bank

Onnaing majolica cat & basket bank

Sarreguemines majolica witch bank

Wasmuël majolica purse bank

Austrian majolica bank

Austrian majolica bank

Majolica black figure bank

Happy Hooligan majolica bank

Majolica monk bank

Majolica boy head bank

Austrian majolica bulldog bank

Onnaing majolica dove bank

Orchies majolica pig bank

Onnaing majolica stacked books bank

Longchamp majolica bank

Longchamp majolica Jeanne D’Arc bank

Longchamp majolica Jeanne Hachette bank

Longchamp majolica Napoléon bank

Sarreguemines policeman bank

Sarreguemines majolica lady bank

Desvres bust bank

Desvres majolica lady bust bank

Brownie majolica bank

Wasmuël majolica peacock bank

Wasmuël majolica rooster bank

Wasmuël majolica book bank

Onnaing majolica pelican bank

Onnaing majolica monkey bank

Nimy majolica monkey bank

Onnaing majolica cat bank

Onnaing majolica bank

Onnaing pig bank

Onnaing majolica Disney little pig bank

Onnaing majolica Disney Big Bad Wolf bank

Onnaing majolica Disney Mickey Mouse bank

While not quite as popular among collectors as humidors, the rules for pricing humidors also apply to banks. Animals are the most popular subject with more colorful and whimsical  subjects commanding the highest prices. Human subjects are less popular among collectors.