Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin 1812-1852
Bread plate, c.1848
for Minton & Co., Stoke-on-Trent (1796-1968) (maker)
impressed ‘430’ on the reverse
impressed ‘430’ on the reverse
encaustic (inlaid) earthenware
13 ¼ x 13 ¼ x 1 ¼ inches (33.7 x 33.7 x 3.2 cm)
£ 2,800.00
Notes for same style of plate consigned by Blairmans to 2026 FAS at 150 show (OSE1277): The ‘Waste Not Want Not’ plate has become one of the icons of the...
Notes for same style of plate consigned by Blairmans to 2026 FAS at 150 show (OSE1277):
The ‘Waste Not Want Not’ plate has become one of the icons of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Pugin’s design is probably the most familiar of all his designs for ceramics. The encaustic process was probably favoured as it would avoid scratching from a bread knife. The number ‘430’ on the back refers to the Minton ‘shape pattern book’.
Pugin’s interest in ceramic design appears to have been initiated by his meeting with Herbert Minton, the owner of the burgeoning pottery business, when looking for a manufacturer of medieval-style encaustic floor tiles. The huge variety of designs Pugin produced for Minton is testament to their close friendship. Their commercial success is evident as many of the designs remained in production well into the twentieth century.
He travelled around Britain working on numerous commissions in a prolific career that he saw as a sacred calling, eulogising about the virtues of pre-Reformation England. His unsustainable lifestyle did not result in wealth; he was a constant entrepreneur, though not a particularly successful one. Whilst perhaps best known for his contribution to the highly decorative schemes of the Palace of Westminster, for which he was poorly paid, Pugin was also deeply concerned about affordability and he sought to produce sound but cheap furniture for the middle classes and clergy. His simple table constructions of circa 1850 show his genius at its best. His crowded career, constantly stressed by his finances, came to an end with his mental collapse and he died aged only forty.
(FAS Spring catalogue, 2025)
Although the ‘Waste Not Want Not’ plate has become one of the icons of the Victorian Gothic Revival, as well as a famous example of flat pattern ornament, it was not until 1973 that an example entered the V&A, the year after one from the pioneering Handley-Read’s collection was acquired by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Pugin’s encaustic plate was produced in large numbers but, apart from his floor tiles, appears to have been the only independent object using this technique that he supplied for the firm. A small number of other examples of the pattern exist with five-colour decoration, including one formerly in the John Scott Collection; there is also a majolica version.
A design registration mark on an example in our 1997 edition of Furniture and Works of Art (no. 11) suggests that the ‘Waste Not Want Not’ plate may have been designed in 1848, although confirmation cannot be found in the National Archives, where design registration records are held. The design date for this plate is generally given as circa 1849, the year it was shown at the Birmingham Exhibition of Manufactures and Arts. The number ‘430’ on the back refers to the Minton ‘shape pattern book’, where it is described as ‘Pugin’s Bread Tray – Encaustic’ (see Judy Rudoe, Decorative Arts 1850-1950: A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection, 1991, pp. 95-96, no. 246).
At the date of its manufacture, admiration for Pugin’s achievement was not universal. An article in the Journal of Design, III (1850), p. 88 notes: ‘The bread plate is made on the encaustic tile principle: very dark … in colouring and disagreeably associating with the bread. The design might do very well for a pavement, but is rude and coarse, and unfit for an object close to the eye on the table.’
(Blairmans website)
The ‘Waste Not Want Not’ plate has become one of the icons of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Pugin’s design is probably the most familiar of all his designs for ceramics. The encaustic process was probably favoured as it would avoid scratching from a bread knife. The number ‘430’ on the back refers to the Minton ‘shape pattern book’.
Pugin’s interest in ceramic design appears to have been initiated by his meeting with Herbert Minton, the owner of the burgeoning pottery business, when looking for a manufacturer of medieval-style encaustic floor tiles. The huge variety of designs Pugin produced for Minton is testament to their close friendship. Their commercial success is evident as many of the designs remained in production well into the twentieth century.
He travelled around Britain working on numerous commissions in a prolific career that he saw as a sacred calling, eulogising about the virtues of pre-Reformation England. His unsustainable lifestyle did not result in wealth; he was a constant entrepreneur, though not a particularly successful one. Whilst perhaps best known for his contribution to the highly decorative schemes of the Palace of Westminster, for which he was poorly paid, Pugin was also deeply concerned about affordability and he sought to produce sound but cheap furniture for the middle classes and clergy. His simple table constructions of circa 1850 show his genius at its best. His crowded career, constantly stressed by his finances, came to an end with his mental collapse and he died aged only forty.
(FAS Spring catalogue, 2025)
Although the ‘Waste Not Want Not’ plate has become one of the icons of the Victorian Gothic Revival, as well as a famous example of flat pattern ornament, it was not until 1973 that an example entered the V&A, the year after one from the pioneering Handley-Read’s collection was acquired by the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Pugin’s encaustic plate was produced in large numbers but, apart from his floor tiles, appears to have been the only independent object using this technique that he supplied for the firm. A small number of other examples of the pattern exist with five-colour decoration, including one formerly in the John Scott Collection; there is also a majolica version.
A design registration mark on an example in our 1997 edition of Furniture and Works of Art (no. 11) suggests that the ‘Waste Not Want Not’ plate may have been designed in 1848, although confirmation cannot be found in the National Archives, where design registration records are held. The design date for this plate is generally given as circa 1849, the year it was shown at the Birmingham Exhibition of Manufactures and Arts. The number ‘430’ on the back refers to the Minton ‘shape pattern book’, where it is described as ‘Pugin’s Bread Tray – Encaustic’ (see Judy Rudoe, Decorative Arts 1850-1950: A Catalogue of the British Museum Collection, 1991, pp. 95-96, no. 246).
At the date of its manufacture, admiration for Pugin’s achievement was not universal. An article in the Journal of Design, III (1850), p. 88 notes: ‘The bread plate is made on the encaustic tile principle: very dark … in colouring and disagreeably associating with the bread. The design might do very well for a pavement, but is rude and coarse, and unfit for an object close to the eye on the table.’
(Blairmans website)
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