A Minton floor rediscovered at Cliveden

Apollo, April, 2003 by Hugo Brown

The Entrance Hall at Cliveden was, until 1904, embellished by a pair of Minton encaustic tiled floors. The Duchess of Sutherland was presented with the earlier floor by Herbert Minton in 1851, when the mansion was being rebuilt. A photograph was taken of this floor in 1889 (Fig. 1). The second floor was laid for William Waldorf Astor in 1895 when the Entrance Hall was enlarged, but it is virtually undocumented, a mere footnote in the decorative history of the room. The floors were both removed by Nancy Astor in 1904, (1) who considered them to be too oppressive, and the tiles were carefully removed and stored on the Cliveden estate, where they still remain. A description of the second floor has emerged, which for the first time allows us to visualise the appearance of the enlarged Entrance Hall, as well as providing clues as to the size and colour scheme of the earlier floor. It also raises important questions about the possible designer of the second floor.

Herbert Minton presented the first floor to the Duchess of Sutherland, 'as a token of his appreciation of the constant interest she had shown for the Welfare of the Staffordshire Potteries.' (2) The relationship between Herbert Minton and the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland was a fruitful one. Minton had already carried out extensive works for the couple at Trentham, Staffordshire, from 1837. (3) They in turn introduced Herbert Minton to his most prestigious clients, (4) and lent him maiolica from their collection for him to copy. There can be no doubt that the floor at Cliveden would have been of the highest quality, and the most modern design, perhaps reflecting work exhibited at the Great Exhibition.

The indistinct photograph of the first Minton floor in the Entrance Hall was taken in 1889 (Fig. 1). The floor was of a handsome design radiating out from a central boss (obscured by a substantial jardiniere), with spandrel sections filled with arabesques, and additional roundels. Decorative borders are used to articulate the overall design. The floor acts as a foil to a bronze statue of Joan of Arc (c. 1838) by Princesse Marie-Christine d'Orleans, which was placed there at vast expense by Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860), between 1852 and 1855. (5) This suggests that the Entrance Hall was designed by Barry to provide a suitable setting for what has been described as the 'Doric grandeur' of the floor. (6)

However, the physical evidence afforded by the tiles does not correspond entirely with the photograph. At the top of the stack may be found tiles of cherubs holding wreaths and fountains, in white with grey-green and buff highlights, against a jasper blue ground (Fig. 2), together with fragments of arabesques in buff on a purple ground, and numerous border designs. Whilst some of the border designs are recognisable, the cherubim are not visible in the photograph, and it is hard to see how they would have been incorporated into what is an essentially geometric design.

This discrepancy is explained by a 'Specially Contributed' description of an extended floor, entitled 'A Millionaire's Encaustic Floor', which was published in the Pottery Gazette for November 1895.

Some years ago, the late Mr Herbert Minton presented to the then Duchess of Sutherland an elaborately manufactured encaustic tile floor for her residence at Clevedon, Bucks, and the property having passed in the possession of Mr Astor, the American millionaire, that gentleman has recently ordered a counterpart of it from the present firm of Messrs. Minton, Hollins, & Co., of Stoke on Trent and which we have had the privilege of seeing. The floor is 25ft 8 in. by 23ft 8 in, and is of a most artistic character and wonderfully displays the high manufacturing powers of the firm. The whole floor has been specially designed and modelled, and is undoubtedly the finest of its kind ever produced. The Corinthian form of design is mainly adopted. On the outer border of the floor are cupids allegorically drawn. The base of the ornament on the outer edge is of jasper blue colour, the figures of the Cupids being white, and in their hands they hold a wreath, the ends of which are attached to a vase in the form of a fountain. A scroll and key border is also effectively introduced. At the top of the columns or plinths in the centre of the floor are allegorical figures in white upon a jasper ground, the figures being relieved by touches of green. The elements are represented by four allegorical pictures and in the centre of the pavement the mask of Medusa is portrayed. The colours of the tiles used in the construction of this beautiful work of art are blue, white, grey, buffs, black, green and purple. The Entrance Hall to Clevedon when this pavement is laid will consist of 60 ft by 25 ft of Messrs Minton, Hollins and Co's tiles. (7)

Cliveden had been acquired by William Waldorf Astor in 1893 from the Duke of Westminster. Astor altered the Entrance Hall, the Library and the Study to create a series of suitably 'masculine' spaces for displaying his collections of antique and renaissance art, which would be in harmony with the exterior of the house, and consequently in the Italian style of the sixteenth century. The architect John Loughborough Pearson (1817-97) was coaxed out of near-retirement to carry out the job, although the work was largely executed by Pearson's son, Frank. The Entrance Hall, which was originally a small square room, was merged with the Morning Room. The new space was panelled throughout, and fluted Corinthian columns and pilasters were added. The French renaissance fireplace, acquired at the Spitzer Sale in 1892, (8) was incorporated at one end of the room, and at the other, Pearson's newly designed staircase rose beneath a painted ceiling by Hervieu, with a painted surround executed by John Dibblee Crace (1838-1917). The 'mosaic' floor was continued throughout the room, as is revealed by an unpublished typed memorandum. (9)