Minton Tile, Ellen Willmott's Jardinière

A tile from a jardinière formerly belonging to the renowned horticulturalist Ellen Willmott (1858–1934) and made in the Aesthetic style, with ebonised wood inlaid with Minton tiles. The tiles were designed by Walter Crane (1845–1915) and Kate Greenaway (1846–1901) and depict a variety of figures in garden habitats, often in fairy-tale settings.
Minton tiles could be purchased blank with the design in outline to be coloured and returned for firing. This tile, designed by Crane, has an ‘E.W.’ monogram in the lower corner - Ellen Willmott was also an amateur artist. The jardinière was used at Willmott’s family home of Warley Place, which she inherited after her father’s death.
Miss, Willmott left this jardinière to her butler, John Robinson, one of the few staff loyal enough to stay. Robinson’s granddaughter later auctioned it at Sotheby’s, where the Garden Museum purchased it in 2003.