This art nouveau design tile was removed from the
back of a wash-stand and dates from about 1905.
What's it all about?
Hi! I am
Michael Swann,
one of my interests is tiles. I have been collecting
and researching tiles, their designers, manufacturers,
painters and locations since about 1974.
I am fortunate to live in the Midlands of England
where, in the seventies and early eighties, there
was an abundant supply of Victorian tiles at very
affordable prices (and sometimes even LESS than that!).
It was a time when the fashion was to modernise everything and
D.I.Y. was the 'in' word. Panelled
doors were made flush, central heating replaced the traditional open
fire and decor became clean and uncluttered.
Many houses affected by this change of fashion were built during the housing boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and suffered greatly during this period. The removal of fireplaces in particular was a quick and easy way to 'improve' a lounge or bedroom. A hammer to the cast-iron, tiled cheeks and hearth of a fireplace made for easy removal. A piece of hardboard over the hole, a coat of paint and voilą! - a modernised room.
Some fireplaces were removed more carefully than with a hammer, but the reason was not to preserve the fireplace - it was just to help prevent dust and mess in the room. Complete fireplaces were dumped in skips and on rubbish tips - and became the primary source for additions to my tile collection. (Always with permission of the house owners or builders, and almost always free!)
About 18 months ago I began to scan my tile collection with the view to publishing them as a CD-ROM. As yet I have been unable to attract a publisher. Undeterred I have continued to digitise the tile images in my collection and have made these images available to the world in the WWW Tile Image Gallery.
In March 1985, a selection from my collection was featured in the B.B.C. childrens program Blue Peter. This was a part of their theme of preservation of tiled panels in hospitals in England.
In the summer of 1986 I put all my tiles on exhibition at The Derby Museum and Art Gallery. The exhibition was called Focus on Tiles.
An important section of the exhibition was the work of George Henry Grundy.
From 1896 to about 1907 he produced a range of tiles decorated with photographs. During this period his firm, the Photo Decorated Tile Company also produced transfer printed, block printed and moulded tiles in great numbers which sold throughout the country.
A Pottery Gazette article about George Henry Grundy and his photographic tiles used the term "..novelty.." in its opening paragraph. It was an unfortunate word for the writer to use, because the word has been taken literally by tile researchers and authors to dismiss as a novelty, this brilliant man, the products of his company and his contribution to English ceramics.
Grundy and the PDTC rank equal amongst the many small tile firms in England at the turn of the century and deserve to be recognised as such. Some PDTC tiles are featured in the WWW Tile Image Gallery.
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Derby Index
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Last update 12 November 1997.