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1 of 253523 objects
A dessert service, decorated in the Victoria pattern 1850-52
Glazed and unglazed bone china, painted in enamels and gilded | Centrepiece 62.1 x 42.0 x 42.0, cream tureens 26 x 17.6, bon-bon dishes 21.6 x 20.7 x 15.3, dessert stand (jelly or cream) 51.5 x 32.5 x 32.0 with 21 custard cups and covers 8.5 x 7.8 x 6.0, ice pails 62.0 x 42.5 x 42.5 cm (whole object) | RCIN 5000041
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A bone china dessert service, mostly of serving pieces, decorated in the Victoria pattern.
Herbert Minton's contribution to the Great Exhibition was an outstanding success. Prior to the official opening, Queen Victoria had purchased from his display the 116-piece dessert service, most of which was intended as a gift for the Emperor of Austria, Franz Josef I, at a cost of 1,000 guineas. Minton showed the Queen around parts of the Exhibition, and was introduced by her to Princess Louise of Prussia. The Queen made several visits to Minton's stand during the Exhibition and acquired other works, including a plate painted by the artist Thomas Kirkby, and several Parian ware groups.
The Victoria service, named after its first patron, attracted much attention. According to the Art Journal it was one of 'exceeding beauty, designed with pure artistic skill and exhibiting in manipulation and finish a degree of refinement that has rarely, if ever, been surpassed'. The Jury at the Great Exhibition was a little more wary in its praise for the unusual combination of Parian figures and bone china, but they greatly admired the ground colour described in the official catalogue as 'a fine turquoise imitating as nearly as possible that used on the soft paste porcelain of old Sèvres'.
The Queen presented sixty-nine pieces of the Victoria Service to the Austrian Emperor. In return, the royal couple received the large carved oak bookcase by Carl Leistler & Son, which was prominently displayed at the Great Exhibition. The consignment, which was delivered to the Hofburg in Vienna in December 1851 by Herbert Minton and Henry Cole in person, accompanied by the artistic director of the Minton factory, Joseph Arnoux (1816-1902), included a 'Four Seasons' centrepiece, several dessert stands and all forty-eight plates. The Queen retained the balance of the service herself, supplementing it with the turquoise-ground dessert plates bearing the V&A monogram, and further dessert stands. The service was designed by Emile Jeannest, the French modeller who later also worked for Elkingtons. Jeannest's combination of textures was highly innovative.
Comprising the 'Four Seasons' centrepiece, 2 cream tureens, 4 bon-bon dishes, 1 dessert stand (jelly or cream) with 21 custard cups and covers and 2 ice pails
Text adapted from Victoria & Albert: Art & Love, London, 2010Provenance
A dessert service known as the Victoria pattern dessert service purchased by Queen Victoria from Minton and Co's stand at the Great Exhibition in 1851. She subsequently gave sixty nine pieces of the service to the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef I, for whom it was originally intended, before commissioning more for herself. (payment to Minton dated 12 June 1852, £1,000).
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Creator(s)
(porcelain manufacturer)(designer)Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Glazed and unglazed bone china, painted in enamels and gilded
Measurements
Centrepiece 62.1 x 42.0 x 42.0, cream tureens 26 x 17.6, bon-bon dishes 21.6 x 20.7 x 15.3, dessert stand (jelly or cream) 51.5 x 32.5 x 32.0 with 21 custard cups and covers 8.5 x 7.8 x 6.0, ice pails 62.0 x 42.5 x 42.5 cm (whole object)
Category
Place of Production
Stoke-on-Trent [Staffordshire]
