Joan Stacke-Graham Lecture
Susan Weber is Founder and Director of the Bard Graduate Center.
“Cisterns in Which a Man Might Bathe
and Flower Vases in Which One Might Rear an Oak’:
Minton’s Majolica in the Golden Age of Exhibitions 1851–1894.”
Thursday, April 25, 2019, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Bard Graduate Center Lecture Hall
38 West 86th Street, New York City
The lecture is FREE to the public, but registration is required
Register Here
Susan Weber will deliver the 2019 Majolica International Society Lecture.
Her talk is entitled “’Cisterns in Which a Man Might Bathe and Flower Vases in Which One Might Rear an Oak’: Minton’s Majolica in the Golden Age of Exhibitions 1851–1894.”
Minton was the leading British pottery for the production of majolica in the nineteenth century. The Great London Exhibition of 1851 was the initial showcase for Minton & Co.’s majolica. It would take rival firms close to a dozen years to imitate and to compete with Minton & Co.’s majolica production. Disciples of Minton at Josiah Wedgwood & Son and George Jones of Trent Pottery would run a fierce battle for recognition of their majolica works. These competing ventures would vie for optimal display placement, medals, and reviews and coverage in newspapers, local journals, and guidebooks as well as retail and wholesale sales at international and national fairs, which were the greatest promotional vehicles of the nineteenth century. No other British or American venture came close to Mintons’ majolica in exhibition numbers, scale of works, or investment. They understood the importance of showcasing their ceramics in order to guarantee a high level of recognition and promotion for their excellent products as part of their advertising apparatus. This lecture explores Minton & Co.’s non-stop participation in what was known as “the golden age of exhibitions.” Their creation of monumental designs in majolica to showcase the artists, designers, and modelers of the firm to attract critical and public attention is examined from their first showing in 1851 until the 1890s, when majolica mostly disappeared from the field. Exhibition displays, distinguished patrons, and museum acquisitions are also covered.
This lecture series honors Joan Stacke-Graham, founding member of the Majolica International Society and co-author of Majolica: A Complete History and Illustrated Survey. The lectureship is funded by a grant from members of the Majolica International Society and hosted at Bard Graduate Center with the aim of fostering scholarly inquiry and publication on Victorian majolica as decorative art.
