A most colourful and excellent art nouveau
tile. First time I can recall seeing this and my
first reaction was wow, and still is. Amazing
colours, at least six, rich and brilliant.
Superb moulding, great style suggestive of the
Hindu style of decoration.
Lea & Boulton were a tremendous company,
described as shadowy by a well known tile
historian but I think that title best applied to
a couple of other manufacturers whose wares are
distinctive but who were so well in the shadows
that we don't know what their names are!
Fabulous wares from Lea & Boulton, in the
styles of the times, the worked from premises
called The Art Tileries which tells how they
viewed their role. Superior to the cheap mass
produced decorative tiles of the likes of Boote
and Rhodes, more akin to Ollivant and even
Maw.
These chequer style designs amongst the last
favoured by collectors, understandably so for
big bold designs are preferred, they were not
priced differently to other majolica tile in
their day and were chosen for the qualities of
design and colour and this has both.
Verso very clean, embossed L. B. T. and
England, pattern number painted in glaze.
