Genuine Minton Majolica Mark Click photo to enlarge	GENUINE Click photo to enlarge Fake Meissen Minton Master Salt Mark Click photo to enlarge	FAKE Click photo to enlarge Fake Minton Majolica Cherub Master Salt Mark
Fake Meissen Minton Cherub Master Salt Click photo to enlarge
Fake Minton Majolica Cherub Master Salt Top View Click photo to enlarge
Special thanks to Ophelia Fine Arts for the lovely photo of the genuine Minton Majolica Cherub Sweetmeat Master Salt featured above.  Here's another famous Minton piece that the fake-makers have chosen for their efforts.  They are doing a bit better on this one than on some of the others they've copied--at least they've tried to use colors commonly found on antique majolica.  Note that this fake-maker's mold is doing double duty: they are making a fake Minton majolica master salt and adding some flowers to the top, glazing it in cream, and putting a fake Meissen mark to create a fake Meissen dish.  Both the Minton and Meissen fakes are pictured above. As can be seen from the photos the colors of the fake vary from the genuine piece, though the colors used are realistic.  As with so many other faux pieces out there, the modeling on the fake is pretty ham-handed and simply doesn't approach the grace and detail of the original.  Notice especially the molded leaves beneath the basket and compare them to the fake--it's laughable.  Also note the fake's clumsiness of the wreath on the cherubs' heads as compared to the genuine piece.  I could go on for another 10 pages pointing out the differences between the lovely and real Minton piece and the poor excuse for a copy of the fake, but I think a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll let you study the side by side photos and come to your own conclusions. One small caveat about marks: the genuine Minton mark shown above is an example only and is not from the genuine master salt shown.  The impressed mark pictured above is only one of several possible genuine Minton marks.  While it's true that almost all the Minton majolica I've seen has been marked with the impressed Minton mark (simply the impressed word "MINTON" or later "MINTONS"), there are other genuine marks that could show up.  In addition, there is usually a date code on the base of genuine Minton.  There is not sufficient room here to give a detailed treatment of the various Minton marks, for more info I would recommend this site.  Also note that many of the fakes carry an impressed "Minton" that resembles the real mark, so don't be swayed by the presence of a mark, unless Minton quality is present in the rest of the piece.   Have fun out there on your majolica quests, but do be cautious too!

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