- Style/technique: Arts & crafts
lustre
- Dimensions: 12" x 6" (two tiles)
- Manufacturer: J C Edwards
- Date: circa 1890
- Condition: Excellent
- Price: £440 (approx $629)
- Ref: 03400
They look pretty good in the pictures, in the
flesh these are totally amazing tiles. These are
quadruple lustre tiles, four different stains
used for outline painting and fill colouring,
the firing has caught the lustre well when
caught in the light vivid iridescent blues and
yellows can be seen, perhaps suggesting silver
stain was used. There is a little 'smokiness' to
the background glaze caused by the same effect
as the lustre and is not uncommon. They are well
designed for use as running design both
horizontally and vertically and are reminescent
of the style of Lewis F Day who is reported to
have worked for Edwards (Austwick p.98) though
Austwick also comments that L A Shuffrey
designed lustre tiles for Edwards in imitation
of William de Morgan's work. Imitation of de
Morgan may be moot as he was more of an imitator
himself, unashamedly so for along with Morris he
sought out medieval designs to reproduce.
Using one stain was difficult enough and
still is nowadays despite all the advances in
glaze and kiln technologies. The tiles are free
handpainted, the stains being painted on to the
glaze. The decorated tile is heated in the kiln
until the glaze begins to melt, then the stains
migrate a little way in to the glaze but must
remain near the surface for the reducing agent
to release the metal to create the lustre. As
the decoration is on or very close to the
surface lustre tiles are subject to surface
wear, most manufacturers advised that lustre
tiles (and some other unusual glazing technique
tiles) were not used in hearths etc. These are
rare and exceptional examples of the ceramic
art. See if you can find a ceramic artist to
make the same now or even as good an example by
de Morgan!
See Barnard page 65, plate 54, top left tile,
for a similar floral tile. It is unattributed
however alongside is a well known Lewis Day/Maw
lustre tile attributed to Edwards so maybe the
publisher mixed them up.
Making lustre tiles was a very expensive
process so it is no wonder such tiles are rare.
An interesting comparison of prices can be
gained from a Maw & Co price list dating
from the 1890s.
- Plain coloured tiles 4 - 4.5 each
- Relief tiles 6.5 - 7 each
- Walter Crane designs 6.5 each
- Lustre tiles 56 each
The unit of currency in 1890 is pennies, old
pennies - 240 to the pound!
The price reflected the difficulty of
manufacture and it is fascinating to see how
times have changed. Walter Crane designs now
achieve similar prices to lustres but when they
were made the lustres were 850% more expensive.
Relief tiles were then only one and a half times
the cost of plain tiles, now are two to twenty
times the cost. Surprisingly very few lustre
tiles were made in the centre of the ceramic
industry, Stoke on Trent. Mintons China Works
made a few but most were made in the London art
potteries and west of Stoke in Jackfield
(Ironbridge Gorge) by Maw & Co and Craven
Dunnill.
Versos have the marks for J C Edwards of
Ruabon, Wales yet we are not absolutely
convinced that Edwards made these tiles, we
think it well possible Maw & Co made them.
Maws were one of the greatest tile makers, for
some periods in their history probably the
greatest, in terms of quality, range and volume.
They made tiles for other companies and many
tiles we have seen attributed to/marked as J C
Edwards are very similar to the works of Maw
& Co indeed what one may call ordinary tiles
from Edwards are virtually unheard of and it is
strange that they apparently produced solely
excellent tiles. They were a major manufacturer
of plumbing, drainage and sanitary wares so tile
making although related would be not a core
business. Doulton & Co were similarly drain
and sanitary ware manufacturers who apparently
did not make any tiles but had relationships
with a variety of tile manufacturers. They did
of course decorate bought in tiles and went on
to become art potters then further one of the
mainstay pottery companies of the 20thC. Maws
put their own name on relatively few of their
wares, it is only in recent years that it has
been possible to positively attribute many tiles
to them.