Of all the animals Minton pressed into service for Victorian tea drinking, the monkey seems to have been the public's favourite. The Archive Collection certificate calls it probably the best loved of the firm's humorous teapots, and looking at this one, it isn't hard to see why: a monkey in a floral jacket, clutching a bright yellow globe as though he has personally caught it, hardly leaves room for argument.
This reissue comes from 1993, reproducing a design Minton first produced around 1860, when figural and novelty teapots were something of a speciality for the factory. The monkey's fur is worked in warm, naturalistic browns, his jacket a deep floral navy, and the spout, formed as a branch emerging from beside his head, curls round into a tail-like handle finished with a small green finial. It is a truly an odd piece of tableware, in the best possible sense.
Original Victorian examples of Minton's majolica monkey teapots now sell for thousands at auction, a testament to how firmly these novelty designs have lodged themselves in collectors' affections. This later Archive Collection reissue offers the same design at a rather more approachable price point, in fine bone china rather than the original majolica glaze. This example, number 410 of a limited edition of 1,793, retains its original dark green Minton presentation box and numbered certificate of authenticity, a pairing that keeps far fewer of these teapots company than you might expect.
