Restoration top left corner, couple of tiny
chips right edge, other minor marks to the rim,
surface condition is excellent with just a little
rubbing. Style: Arts
& Crafts A rare and early William de Morgan panel tile
painted in his trademark blues, one of only two
found from the panel. On an Architectural
Pottery, Poole, Dorset blank as used in his
early years at Chelsea. The Membland Hall tile panels were a
collaborative effort between William Morris and
William De Morgan and the largest scale panel
ever produced by Morris & Co., having
dimensions of 36 x 63 inches. Panels were
installed side by side in a bathroom at Membland
Hall. The Victoria & Albert Museum has a
panel one of six that were found unused in
Membland Hall. Extracts from the V&A, more at the link
below: The architect of Membland Hall in Devon
commissioned this sumptuous design for bathroom
tiles from William Morris (1834-1896). Morris
had the tiles painted in the studios of William
de Morgan (1839-1917). They represent a rare
collaboration between these two creative
geniuses. Historical significance: It is the only
floral pattern for a tile panel on this scale by
Morris. Presumably its ambitious size (of
sixty-six individual tiles) and the need to
produce a matching set suggested that he should
turn to the better equipped De Morgan for its
production. The design remained on Morris &
Co.'s stocklists until 1912-13 and a number of
panels, other than the Membland six, are known
to have been made. https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O8046/tile-panel-morris-william/ To my mind the Architectural Pottery blanks
are the best used by de Morgan, always square
and semi-vitrified, when unglazed used for
pavements hard wearing and frost resistant. In
discussion with a well known collector about the
use of the blanks he noted that the colours seem
to run in to the glaze more often on them, it
certainly isn't the case with this example. What sets this apart from other tiles of his
that I have seen is the quality of the painting
so finely is it done, so remarkably is it
painted that it carries the sense of being
painted by the designer rather than a painter on
piecework. Given the importance of the panels,
the client and that several were made for the
same installation it is likely that they were
all painted by the same hand that likely being
of de Morgan himself. Verso very clean, Architectural Pottery
redware blank.
Condition: Very
good
Price: £650 (approx $900)
Stock number: 06935
Technique: Painted
Designer: William
Morris
Maker: William de Morgan
Dimensions: 6"
x 6"
Date: 1876 (made)
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