Minton hand painted and gilded porcelain salt

Description

Minton hand painted and gilded porcelain salt. Item 3947.This very pretty Minton hand painted and gilded porcelain salt consists of two connected bowls with intertwined handles. Around the middle are a number of small hand painted roses, nestled between two bands of turquoise enamel. The piece is finished off with hand gilding to the rims and to the handles. It would have sat on the dining table where guests could help themselves to the salt, and/or pepper. It measures 120 mm (4.75 inches) across both bowls and stands 106 mm (4.25 inches) high. It is unmarked but there is an illustration in the Minton’s catalogue of the 1880’s, reproduced on page 330 of Atterbury and Batkin’s “The Dictionary of Minton”. There are two small areas where the gilding on one rim has been lost, and as so often happens with these pieces, one of the handles has been repaired. It would date from the late 1880’s.