MINTON'S PATE-SUR-PATE AMPHORA VASE ALBION BIRKS.

Minton Pate-sur-Pate Amphora Vase, A late 19th-early 20th century Minton Pate-sur-Pate vase by Albion Birks decorated with a vignette from Greek mythology. Height: 60, width: 25 cm.
Pâte-sur-Pâte is a French term meaning "paste on paste". It is a method of decorating porcelain in which a relief drawing is created on an unfired or unglazed support by applying successive layers of white slip (liquid clay) with a brush.

The development of pâte-sur-pâte dates back to 1850 in France at the Sevres factory. A notable maker was Marc-Louis Solon, born in France in 1835, who perfected the technique and was the leading exponent of pâte-sur-pâte for most of his professional life.

In 1870 Solon fled France and sought refuge in England, where he made contact with the Mintons in Staffordshire. There was a great demand for pâte-sur-pâte and Solon was assigned an English apprentice, Frederick Alfred Rhead. A golden age of pâte-sur-pâte followed in Stoke-on-Trent, lasting into the early 20th century. Another famous artist who worked with this technique was Florence E. Barlow. Florence began working in Doulton in 1873, specializing in painting flowers and birds. Florence used the so-called sgraffito technique fairly extensively in the early years and then branched out into other directions, most notably paste-on-paste painting, which is the most characteristic feature of almost all of her post-1878 earthenware work.

She was particularly successful in creating a sense of light and shade in her pâte-sur-pâte paintings of birds in their natural environment. Examples of her work have received several awards at major exhibitions.