Skip to main content
Lot 104

A very rare Minton majolica match box and cover, dated 1864

23 February 2022, 11:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £1,083.75 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our British Ceramics specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

A very rare Minton majolica match box and cover, dated 1864

In the form of a crusader's tomb, the cover moulded in high relief with the recumbent knight, his shield at his side and his crossed feet resting on the head of a coiled dragon or wyvern, picked out in bright glazes, the rim inscribed in gothic script 'The knights are dust and their good swords are rust their souls are with the saints we trust', the interior with turquoise glaze and the underside textured to act as the match strike, 10cm long, impressed MINTON mark and date code (2)

Footnotes

This probably corresponds with shape number 705 in the Minton Shape book, listed as 'Match box with reclining male figure', where it is noted that the shape was produced in majolica.

The inscription on the cover is taken from Sir Walter Scott's 1820 classic 'Ivanhoe', in which he quotes Samuel Taylor Coleridge's then unpublished poem 'The Knight's Tomb'.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

Jessica Dismorr(British, 1885-1939)Self Portrait 55.4 x 40.1 cm. (21 3/4 x 15 3/4 in.)

Vanessa Bell(British, 1879-1961)Church of the Redentore, Venice 38.3 x 55.9 cm. (15 x 22 in.)

Dod Procter R.A.(British, 1890-1972)Girl in her Petticoat 68.6 x 43.2 cm. (27 x 17 in.)

Dame Elisabeth Frink R.A.(British, 1930-1993)Warrior (Small Warrior) 36.4 cm. (14 3/8 in.) high

Dame Tracey Emin(British, born 1963)National Portrait Gallery Portfolio

Winifred Nicholson(British, 1893-1981)Flowers - Sutton Veny 76.2 x 68.6 cm. (30 x 27 in.)

c.1895 Unidentified Tricycle with Starley Axle

1954 Ariel 500cc Red Hunter

The Taylor Collection, c.1913 Peco 350cc 2T

The Taylor Collection, 1925 AJS 349cc SV

Laverda 100cc Sport

The Taylor Collection, c.1930 Norton 490cc Model 18

The Taylor Collection, 1931 Ariel 557cc VB SV

Three owners from new, 1975 Ducati 450 Scrambler

Offered from the estate of the late Neil Redley, c.1930 Velocette 349cc KTP

Offered from the estate of the late Neil Redley, 1957 Matchless 599cc G11

The Taylor Collection, 1928 AJS 349cc 'Big Port'

1995 Ducati 400SS

Offered from the estate of the late Neil Redley, c.1970 Indian-Velocette 499cc Venom

1910 Bradbury 3½hp Motorcycle with Wicker Sidecar

The Richard Johns Collection, 1933 AJS 474cc 33-7 Camshaft 'Trophy' Competition Model

Offered from the estate of the late Neil Redley, 1968 Velocette 499cc Road Scrambler

Offered from the estate of the late Neil Redley, 1966 Velocette 499cc Endurance