Antique Tiles

Antique tiles are miniature works of art and history. Small in size yet with a huge design impact, they have become the new decorating accent for those who wish to own a unique home installation or interesting collectibles. Perfected in Persia, this oldest and most universally employed form of decorative architecture travelled all around the world. Exquisitely painted, detailed tiles covered the walls of temples, mosques, palaces and homes of the extremely wealthy. As we expand and remodel our existing world, increasing numbers of old tiles as well as terracotta and brick facades are torn away, thoughtlessly discarded and lost forever.

The historical and artistic significance of tiles has long been recognised around the world and there are efforts to preserve this most permanent, yet vulnerable artistic tradition. In Europe, there are tile museums in Turkey, Holland, Spain and Portugal. There are tile collections in London’s Royal Albert and Victoria Museum, and in the Rijksmuseum, Holland. Tiles have become enormously valuable and are traded as collectible art with prices going to thousands of pounds.

Collecting tiles
Antique tile collecting and use is enormously popular abroad. Durable, practical and of course, stunningly beautiful, antique tiles offer infinite possibilities for collectors and decorators. Tiles can be framed, displayed on a plate holder, leaned against a wall, put on an easel or even laid fiat on a table. They can be used in areas where other art cannot, such as in full sun, potentially damp spaces and on radiators. Tiles also work well in smaller spaces such as beside or over doorways and on windowsills. Antique tiles can be incorporated into fireplaces and hearths, on tabletops, bathrooms and showers. Clever decorators have used antique tiles as chair rails, on stair risers, on doors, bedsteads and as floor accents.

Antique tiles are a bit different from other types of ceramics in that they were installed and used. This often means that antique tiles are less than “perfect” when they appear on the market. Small chips, edge nibbles and scuffing do not therefore affect the market value of a tile. Most, if not all, antique tiles will show some signs of age. There will be remnants of mortar, fireplace smoke and/or wear on an old tile. Look at the back of a tile for signs of wear and/or any markings as to company and country of manufacture. Another way to tell an old tile from a new one is the thickness. Although this is not always true, antique tiles are usually heavier and thicker than newly manufactured tiles. Lastly, look at the front of the tile.

For many years, tiles were hand-formed and hand-painted, making each a work of art. Tile making techniques were jealously guarded and orally passed from parent to child or master to student. Rarely have design patterns and techniques been documented and few complete treatises exist on the art of tile work

Motifs in design
Tiles were seldom used in isolation usually as a panel on walls or floors. Square tiles were placed together and the necessary design was painted in glazed colours on them. After firing, they were all placed next to each other to create the main large illustration. Design motifs for tiles were derived from a variety of sources and categorised into divisions based on their characteristics.

Shapes: Irregular tiles, round and mitred to fit corners, diamond or octagonal, pentagonal and triangular shapes were common. Through the 13th century there was a general movement

Single motif: Isolated figures like religious or royal portraits.

Patterns: Asymmetric tiles are very rare as decorative tiles. Geometric designs with strong contours in strong colours provided a continuous decoration. Most designs required four tiles to complete a pattern, some required as many as sixteen. A ‘wallpaper’ pattern is one that has translation symmetry in two directions (such as left/right and up/down). A frieze pattern is one that has translation symmetry in one direction. A rosette pattern is one that has no translation symmetry, just reflection and/or rotation symmetry.

Themes: Botanical subjects were popular motifs as were landscapes, portraits and everyday life. Literature provided ample subject matter as did morality tales and fables. Animals, mythical creatures, pets, famous people, even advertisements appeared on tiles.

Shapes : Irregular tiles, round and mitred to fit corners, diamond or octagonal, pentagonal and triangular shapes were common. Through the 13th century there was a general movement towards standard sizes in convenient square or rectangular shapes.