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Decorative Tiles Throughout the Ages
Decorative tiles for floors and walls are enjoying a revival among interior designers who frequently look to tiles of the past for inspiration. The twenty-six examples in this collection illustrate the imaginative development of hand-painted tiles in Europe from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, and show how craftsmen changed their designs and created innovative decorative techniques through the ages. From the earliest medieval mosaic tiles to popular Dutch delftware and favorite Victorian and Edwardian designs, this is an intriguing book that will appeal to designers and historians as well as to the general reader.
63 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1988
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 18, 2016
This huge-sized book displays a wide range of decorative tiles from the 13th century through to the 20th century and many famous designers are featured such as the 16th century Italian Niculoso Italiano, real name Francisco Niculoso Pisano, the Minton factory's Antonin Boullemier, who came over from France to work for the company in 1872, Walter Crane, A W N Pugin, William Morris, John Piper, Salvador Dali and many others who are not acknowledged.
The history of ceramic tiles goes back to Egyptian, Assyrian and Islamic times while the flowering of decorative tile making in Europe began during the Middle Ages when the age of cathedral building in France, Germany and Britain brought with it the production of magnificent ornamental tiled floors made by specialist craftsmen.
In Britain medieval tiles were produced in large numbers between the 13th and 16th centuries. The earliest forms of medieval tiles are known as mosaic tiles, which comprised small, differently coloured geometrical pieces that were put together to form larger units and patterns. There were also inlaid tiles, which were made by stamping a design into the clay and then filling the indentations with white liquid clay, known as slip. When the tiles were dry they were covered with a transparent lead glaze which, after firing, made the tile body look red-brown and the inlaid decoration honey coloured. A good range of medieval tiles can be seen at the Westminster Chapter House in London where the inlaid floor tiles were laid around 1255.
Italy, Spain, France, Belgium and Holland soon took up the tile cudgel and when the designers from Antwerp fled to the relative safety of Holland in the 1560s and 1570s they passed on their skills to the Dutch. And Delft became a centre for tile production, with Rotterdam, with the Aelmis factory and Cornelius Boumcester producing many tile panels with such as biblical scenes, not far behind.
In England John Sadler began his printing experiments on tiles in Liverpool in the mid-1750s; he transferred images from copper plates to white glazed but otherwise undecorated delftware tiles with the aid of transfer paper. Some of the printed tiles were coloured in by hand but the majority were printed in monochrome black, brown or red. This technique of transfer printing was to become of great importance to the later Victorian tile industry.
Herbert Minton then became a key figure in the 1830s and 1840s and, with the resources of the Minton pottery firm behind him he had solved most of the technical problems in tile production by the time he got the order to repave the floor of Temple Church in London. And it was about this time that the Victorian Gothic Revival architect A W N Pugin joined forces with Minton to design decorative inlaid floor tiles.
The advent of the Arts and Crafts movement had its effect on tile design, as did Art Nouveau but by the time of the First World War the heyday of decorative tiles had largely run its course. Of course, there have been subsequent designers (and companies) who have produced decorative tiles including Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and Art Deco brought in the imaginative use of geometrical designs with strong colours.
Screen printing also had its effect in later times and finally the computer age made an entry whereby all manner of patterns and pictures can be created quickly and altered and amended at the touch of a button. But these modern images bear no resemblance to the beautiful tile decoration undertaken by the medieval craftsmen and their successors.
Hans van Lemmen has produced a balanced view of the subject and illustrates it with 40 large size plates that amply demonstrate not only the talent of the early designers but how the whole design procedure has evolved.
The history of ceramic tiles goes back to Egyptian, Assyrian and Islamic times while the flowering of decorative tile making in Europe began during the Middle Ages when the age of cathedral building in France, Germany and Britain brought with it the production of magnificent ornamental tiled floors made by specialist craftsmen.
In Britain medieval tiles were produced in large numbers between the 13th and 16th centuries. The earliest forms of medieval tiles are known as mosaic tiles, which comprised small, differently coloured geometrical pieces that were put together to form larger units and patterns. There were also inlaid tiles, which were made by stamping a design into the clay and then filling the indentations with white liquid clay, known as slip. When the tiles were dry they were covered with a transparent lead glaze which, after firing, made the tile body look red-brown and the inlaid decoration honey coloured. A good range of medieval tiles can be seen at the Westminster Chapter House in London where the inlaid floor tiles were laid around 1255.
Italy, Spain, France, Belgium and Holland soon took up the tile cudgel and when the designers from Antwerp fled to the relative safety of Holland in the 1560s and 1570s they passed on their skills to the Dutch. And Delft became a centre for tile production, with Rotterdam, with the Aelmis factory and Cornelius Boumcester producing many tile panels with such as biblical scenes, not far behind.
In England John Sadler began his printing experiments on tiles in Liverpool in the mid-1750s; he transferred images from copper plates to white glazed but otherwise undecorated delftware tiles with the aid of transfer paper. Some of the printed tiles were coloured in by hand but the majority were printed in monochrome black, brown or red. This technique of transfer printing was to become of great importance to the later Victorian tile industry.
Herbert Minton then became a key figure in the 1830s and 1840s and, with the resources of the Minton pottery firm behind him he had solved most of the technical problems in tile production by the time he got the order to repave the floor of Temple Church in London. And it was about this time that the Victorian Gothic Revival architect A W N Pugin joined forces with Minton to design decorative inlaid floor tiles.
The advent of the Arts and Crafts movement had its effect on tile design, as did Art Nouveau but by the time of the First World War the heyday of decorative tiles had largely run its course. Of course, there have been subsequent designers (and companies) who have produced decorative tiles including Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant and Art Deco brought in the imaginative use of geometrical designs with strong colours.
Screen printing also had its effect in later times and finally the computer age made an entry whereby all manner of patterns and pictures can be created quickly and altered and amended at the touch of a button. But these modern images bear no resemblance to the beautiful tile decoration undertaken by the medieval craftsmen and their successors.
Hans van Lemmen has produced a balanced view of the subject and illustrates it with 40 large size plates that amply demonstrate not only the talent of the early designers but how the whole design procedure has evolved.
August 7, 2025
The book presents a short history of decorative tiles, including how and where they were produced. The majority of the book contained tile samples. I found the explanatory section gave me enough detail to understand what I saw in the tile photographs. I wish that they had referred to the sample pages in the explanatory section. I would have liked to have the option to look at the samples while reading about the creation of that style of tile.
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