Stock No: 13945

A simple panelled walnut antique fireplace surround set with very fine and rare Aesthetic Movement Tiles made by Minton & Company ( 1828 - 1868 ). The tiles, exquisitely hand painted in the unburnished precious metals of fine gold, platinum and dragon red rhodium, depict cranes flying and feeding over tranquil lakes amid islands of bamboo and are the work of Japanese artists brought over by Mintons in the 1880's to add their skills and artistry to that of the Minton ceramicists.
English circa 1880.

Note: Rhodium is from the Greek word 'rhodon' meaning rose and was discovered in 1803 by a William Hyde Wollaston, an English chemist, shortly after his discovery of the element palladium. Rhodium tends to occur along with deposits of platinum and is primarily obtained as a byproduct of mining and refining platinum.

Link to: Antique Victorian, William IV and Edwardian fireplaces and chimneypieces.