Tile, 6 x 6 inches. Black transfer. Raised mark for Mintons China Works. This is one of twenty-four subjects in the Shakespeare series, designed by John Moyr Smith for Mintons China Works, c. 1873/74. The series is listed as Pattern No. 1408. The designer's initials appear on all of the patterns in this series. This pattern depicts a moment in The Tempest, Act I, Scene II. The spirit Ariel, invisible, entices Ferdinand, son and heir to Alonso, King of Naples, into the presence of Prospero and Miranda with a song. Prospero, delighted that Ferdinand and Miranda fall instantly in love, puts false obstacles in their way by accusing Ferdinand of treason and by using charms to enslave him.

Mintons China Works was a pottery, porcelain and tile manufacturer in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Factory founded 1793/6 by Thomas Minton in Stoke-on-Trent, taken over by Herbert Minton in 1836 until the latter’s death in 1858, when the china business was carried on by Colin Minton Campbell, in partnership with Michael Daintry Hollins, who ran the tile business. In 1868 the partnership ended and Campbell continued as Mintons China Works, also producing tiles, though not encaustic (inlaid) tiles, until 1918 when tile production ceased. From 1873, the name 'Minton' was changed to 'Mintons' without the apostrophe.