Bone dish, 8.5 inches. Red-orange transfer. The printed globe mark on the back has the maker "Mintons" and the pattern name "Gower." Impressed circle with a ‘Y’ is the yearly mark for 1883. It is a pattern from the last quarter of the 19th century when such bone dishes were added to dinnerware. The center pattern consists of a small stylized center flower that connects the pattern with the Aesthetic Movement. Several long vines of leaves with red and/or white small flowers emerge from the center flower, completing the center pattern. Similar vines of leaves with small flowers form the border by surrounding the pattern along the rim of the plate. No reference has been found for this pattern.
Thomas Minton started the business in 1793 and since then there were many partners and company names. In 1849 Colin Minton Campbell joined Herbert Minton (his uncle and the son of Thomas Minton) and Michael Daintry Hollins and the business traded as Minton & Co. In 1849 Herbert Minton engaged a young French ceramic artist, Léon Arnoux, as art director and he remained with the Minton Company until 1892. This and other enterprising appointments enabled the company to widen its product ranges, one of the first innovations being the very colorful and highly successful majolica ware launched at The Great Exhibition of 1851. Colin Minton Campbell and Michael Daintry Hollins were also in partnership with Robert Minton Taylor as tile manufacturers trading as Minton, Hollins & Co. When Herbert Minton died in 1858 Colin Minton Campbell took over direction of the firm. The partnership with Hollins was dissolved in 1863, Colin Minton Campbell taking the china works and Hollins the tile works. From 1879 the business traded as 'Mintons.'
