Triangular shaped vase 1870s

This is a porcelain vase of triangular form made by Minton, but its date is unknown. Minton was one of the great ceramics factories of Staffordshire, England. Such factories played a vital role in Britain's industrial revolution, as they developed complex divisions of labour and deployed new technologies. The delicate form of the vase, and its decoration of flowers in white relief on a green ground, suggest it was intended as a luxury object for display, rather than for everyday use. The so-called ‘china mania’ in Europe was driven, in part, by the rise of global trade and the desire to emulate the exotic styles of East Asia. The vase’s stylized naturalism reflects a broader cultural interest in the natural world, with a burgeoning field of botanical illustration and scientific classification. To find out more about this vase we would need to research the Minton factory records, and to understand it better we would look at the patterns of consumption and collecting in 19th century Britain.