Tiles of the Month

The pattern features flowers and plants that seem almost alive. The leaves, vines and tentacle-like extensions are winding around to reach outside of the trellis border. This is a tile pattern that begs for more to surround it on all sides in order to connect the extensions and thus complete the pattern.

Trellis Aesthetic Floral Pattern #18812 Maker Unknown
The tile is 6 x 6 inches, and printed in brown.
The pattern has a TCC Assigned Name

This four part tile has a flower motif, turned two different directions and a leaf motif that has a stem with leaves that weaves from left top to lower right in the center of the design. There is a single vine that circles around the flower in the section next to each leaf motif. When groups of tiles are formed, we see the leaf stem weaving vertically back and forth in the center of each tile all the way down to the bottom of the display. We see it here in a group of 4 and a larger group of 16 tiles.

Quartered Blue Flowers and Leaves Pattern #18206. Maw & Co.,
Jackfield, Shropshire, c. 1874-95.
The tile is 6 inches and printed in shades of blue.
The pattern has a TCC Assigned Name.

The double criss-cross borders divide the tile into 4 parts, each with a different motif. It is interesting to see the motifs in each square reach out into the empty space between borders and sometimes connect with another motif. The arrangement of 16 tiles together shows how the white space between the borders weaves in and out, creating an interesting grid or trellis.

Four-part Connected Motifs, pattern #17913. E. Smith & Co. Coalville, Leicestershire. The tile measures 6x6 inches. The tile back has raised lettering: E. Smith & Co. Coalville, and is dated 1885-1900. The pattern is printed in blue and has a TCC Assigned Name. 

It is an Art Nouveau design with an open red blossom in each corner. The meandering stems and colorful leaves form a grid pattern in the center. The pattern would form a colorful and interesting display on a wall or fireplace as seen with the grouping of 16 tiles. A new red flower shape is formed by the corner flowers that alternates with the grid.

Floral Grid pattern #18134 in the database. Pilkingtons Tile & Pottery Co. Ltd., 1893-2010. The tile is 6x6 inches, printed in green and red on cream color. It is marked on the back with a Registration Number dating the registration of the pattern to 1901. The pattern has a TCC Assigned Name.

This is an unusual pattern in that it has two different centers, both of which are bouquets of flowers inside a fan shape. The border is made up of partial fan shapes that surround the floral fan shapes. The grouping of 9 tiles shows a vertical row of alternating floral fan shapes with the leaf and scroll fan shapes that made up the original border.

Pattern #18591 in the Database. Fan Shape pattern #18591 in the database. Sherwin & Cotton, maker, c. 1877-1911. The tile is 6x6 inches, printed in green on cream color. This pattern has a TCC Assigned Name.

The central bouquet is superimposed on a crossed ribbon. Chains of flowers lead out to the four corners/borders. The two groupings of the tile give different emphasis to a wall mounting of the pattern. The diagonal group features just 4 complete tiles, 2 x 2, but changes the perspective from the larger group of 16 tiles.

Pattern #16351 in the Database. Maker Unknown. The tile is 6 x 6 inches, printed in shades of pink and brown. This pattern has a TCC Assigned Name.

The pattern in the center square features several lovely pink-to-red flowers that glow from the tile. They are surrounded by two-toned green and yellow leaves. The images in the corners show that when these tiles are grouped together, the center pattern will be formed again, but in a smaller circular form. The group of 9 tiles shown here gives us an idea of how a wall display would look.

Pattern #18410 in the TCC Database. Maker: Sherwin & Cotton, Hanley, Staffordshire c. 1880-1911. A hand-painted pattern number "1161" is seen. In addition, the printed number 24 and the initials "H.P." which are often found on the tile back by this pottery. This pattern has a TCC Assigned Name. 

The unusual element in the pattern is the over-laid grill work incorporating three overlapping sections and a separate bar at the top on the right side. This design certainly encourages the use of groups of tiles in order to connect the grill work even though the floral pattern is quite complete. The tiles in the group of 9 seen here work together very well. The grill work seems to move down from the upper left corner to the lower right, balancing the upward movement of the flowers

TCC Database Pattern #17857. The tile back has a printed Rd. No. 15668 that represents 1884, the date the pattern was registered. It may be a product of the Marsden Tile Co. 

This 4-part tile is not made up of 4 separate parts in the same way most are designed. The geometrical squares are seen in the upper right and lower left. The upper left and lower right squares with brown background are connected by one long stem of flowers and leaves flowing upward from lower right through the upper left square. The tile arrangement seen here is set diagonally emphasizing the upward motion of the stem of flowers and leaves.

TCC Database Pattern #18099. Maker: Henry Abraham Ollivant, 1890-1908, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The initials C O V appear on tile backs by H. A. Ollivant, with the letter O higher than the C and V. They represent the name Ollivant and "Cliffe Vale", the pottery in Stoke on Trent.

Lee, Tunstall, Staffordsire, 1890-1895,
TCC Database Pattern # 14518.

Many of our members were simply blown away by the beauty of the individual and grouped transferware tiles portrayed by our speaker, Hans van Lemmen, at our 2017 meeting in Phoenix, and in the recent TCC Bulletin article by Connie Rogers, “Anatomy of Tiles” (TCC Bulletin Vol. XIX, No. 2, September 2018). We (your eNews editor) were particularly struck by tile groupings prepared by our DB Image Editor, Kurt O’Hare. Thus, a new eNews feature was born. Featured herein is a 24 image composite prepared by Kurt of a maker unknown tile assigned the name Fluffy Floral Time (DB Pattern No. 17790).

 Note:  following are the two van Lemmen lectures:  http://www.transferwarecollectorsclub.org/research/Transfer-Printed_Tiles_1756-1851_sm.pdf and http://www.transferwarecollectorsclub.org/research/Tiles_Galore_sm.pdf; and the Rogers article:  http://www.transferwarecollectorsclub.org/bulletin_previews/articles/18_TCC_XIX_No2-Anatomy-of-Tiles.pdf.