Victorian tiles

Magazine Antiques, Jan, 2004 by Allison Eckardt Ledes

During the Victorian period in England and the United States, tiled floors, particularly in heavily trafficked areas, became a practical and beautiful alternative to more fragile floor coverings. At the same time health officials became aware that unsanitary conditions, particularly in cities, were a breeding ground for germs and that tiled floors, which could be washed with strong solutions, contributed to better hygiene.

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Tiled floors were installed in some of the best-known buildings on both sides of the Atlantic, from the Palace of Westminster in London to the United States Capitol in Washington, D. C., and from hallways in apartment buildings and lobbies to floors in museums such as the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. The art of making encaustic tiles by hand dates to medieval times and was revived in England in the mid-nineteenth century by Herbert Minton and Company of Stoke-on-Trent. These tiles proved to be so popular that others followed suit, among them Maw and Company, Campbell Brick and Tile Company, and Malkin Edge and Company. One of the best-known designers of tiles was Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin whose intricate geometric floors were an important decorative aspect of the interiors of public buildings such as the Houses of Parliament in London and churches he designed throughout England.

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Maw and Company, established in 1850, has gone through a number of changes in ownership, but it still makes tiles in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, for centuries the heart of the ceramics industry in England. Another English manufacturer, Original Style in Devon, also creates reproductions of Victorian tiles in a dizzying array of patterns. Tiles produced by these English manufacturers are distributed in the United States by Tile Source of Roswell, Georgia, which was founded by David Malkin and his son James in 1997. They are descended indirectly from Clarke, Bumham and Samuel Malkin, eighteenth-century potters in Staffordshire. Their company offers a wide selection of tiles and a number of related services.

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Reproductions from the Victorian era include tiles made for floors, walls, and fireplaces. Tile Source can locate examples that match old tiles in color, shape, and size, and they can give general advice on the restoration and renovation of ceramic walls and floors, on the installation of tiles, and on their care and maintenance. The company can be reached by telephoning 770-993-6602 or through their Web site (www.tile-source.com).

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