Tiles as Art Photos

Ceramic tiles have long been used to create hard surfaces for floors & walls. Over time many evolved into works of art & as media for painting (alternative to canvass & plaster.

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Ishtar Gate & Processional Way (604-562 BCE) from Babylon Upper section corner details of Ishtar Gate at Pergamon Museum. Berlin, Germany Mythical mushkhushshu dragon detail of Ishtar Gate at Pergamon Museum. Berlin, Germany Detail head of Babylon Processional Way lion at Pergamon Museum. Berlin, Germany
Persian & Iranian Tiles
(13th-19th C)		 Tiled prayer niche from Iran at Pergamon Museum. Berlin, Germany Fritware tile painted blue & brown with two men from Iran at Aga Khan Museum. Toronto, ON Ceramic tile painting with mounted cavalier & mythical Simurgh bird from Isfahan, Iran at Sèvres National Ceramic Museum. Paris, France
British Medieval Earthenware Abbey Tiles
(12th-16thC)		 Lead-glazed earthenware initialed floor tiles from an abbot's room found near Hailes Abbey Gloucestershire at British Museum. London, United Kingdom Medieval inlaid clay heraldic lion floor tile from Keynsham Abbey, Somerset at Gladstone Pottery Museum. Longton, Stoke, England Earthenware relief floor tile from St Albans Abbey at British Museum. London, United Kingdom
Hotel Dieu, Beaune (1443) Roof details of Hotel Dieu. Beaune, France Glazed roof tiles on gable of Hotel Dieu. Beaune, France St Louis facade & tiled roof in courtyard of Hotel Dieu. Beaune, France
Ceramic Tile Stoves
(16thC on) Germany		 Ceramic heating stove with Germanic paintings & poems by HHG at Ariana Museum. Geneva, Switzerland Tiled stove with green lead glazed earthenware tiles made for Castle Haneberg in Thurgau, Switzerland at Deutsches Museum. Munich, Germany Green glazed earthenware heating oven in form of man smoking pipe from Kröning at Bavarian National Museum. Munich, Germany
Delft Fireplace Tiles
(17thC on) Delft, NL & copied elsewhere		 Fireplace delft tiles in royal sitting area at Glamis Castle. Angus, Scotland Dutch companies exported tin-glazed tiles around the world at Gladstone Pottery Museum. Longton, Stoke, England Original Delft tiles on parlor fireplace at John Cabot House. Beverly, MA
Minton Tiles
by Minton & Co (1793); & Minton Hollins & Co. (split off after 1858) England		 Earthenware tile with lion mask by Minton & Co of Stoke-on-Trent at British Museum. London, United Kingdom Underwater scenes series hand painted tiles by Minton Hollins & Co at Gladstone Pottery Museum. Longton, Stoke, England Encaustic floor tile depicting Medusa by Minton & Co at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England
Maw Pottery
(1850s-1930s) Ironbridge, England		 Butcher shop tile mural of sheep & cows by Alfred Potter for Maw & Co at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Aesthetic Movement tile inspired by women engaged in Japanese fishing prob by Maw & Co at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Abstract Art Nouveau style tiles by Maw & Co and Craven Dunnill & Co at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England
A.W.N. Pugin & Gothic Revival Tiles
(1840s-50s) Stoke, England		 Encaustic tile panel with designer's initials AWNP between martlet birds by A.W.N. Pugin made by Minton & Co at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Pierced majolica tile for Great Stove of Pugin's Gothic Court exhibited during Great Exhibition by A.W.N. Pugin made by Minton & Co at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Encaustic Gothic Revival lion tile from Palace of Westminster by A.W.N. Pugin made by Minton & Co at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England
William Morris & Co Tiles
(1860s on) English Arts & Crafts		 January monthly labor series ceramic tile by William Morris, Philip Webb, Lucy Faulkner et al made by Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co at Morris Gallery. London, United Kingdom Artichoke ceramic tile by William Morris or William De Morgan at Morris Gallery. London, United Kingdom Scroll ceramic tile by William Morris at Morris Gallery. London, United Kingdom
William De Morgan Tiles
(1860s-1917) English Arts & Crafts		 Owl capturing mammal hand-painted tile by William De Morgan at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Owl hand-painted tiles by William De Morgan at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Sailing ship with monkey at helm hand-painted tile panel by William De Morgan at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England
Cardiff Castle, Wales (1870s) by William Burges, Gothic Arts & Crafts Hop-on-my Thumb plus Jack & the Beanstalk with Jack the Giant Killer sections of painted tiled frieze of children's stories by Horatio Lonsdale & William Burges in Day Nursery at Cardiff Castle at Cardiff Castle. Cardiff, Wales Bronze fountain, designed by William Burges in Roof Garden at Cardiff Castle. Cardiff, Wales Lord Bute's bathroom at Cardiff Castle. Cardiff, Wales
Christopher Dresser Tile Art
(1870s) Stoke, England		 Japanese cranes transfer-printed tile by Christopher Dresser for Minton China Works at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Hand-painted nature tile panels by Christopher Dresser for Minton China Works at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Greek key transfer-printed tile panel by Christopher Dresser for Minton China Works at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England
Henry Stacy Marks Tile Art
(1870s) Stoke, England		 Seven Ages of Man series tile by Henry Stacy Marks for Minton's Art Pottery Studio of Kensington Gore at Gladstone Pottery Museum. Longton, Stoke, England Seven Ages of Man tiles by Henry Stacy Marks made by Minton's Art Studio Pottery of London for Liberty & Co. at National Museum of Scotland. Edinburgh, Scotland Schoolboy tile from Seven Ages of Man by Henry Stacy Marks made by Minton's Art Studio Pottery of London at National Museum of Scotland. Edinburgh, Scotland
Fable Tiles
(1870s-80s) Stoke, England		 William Howard Taft house fireplace with tiles of fables. Cincinnati, OH Aesop's Fables tiles by John Moyr Smith for Minton & Co at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Ancient Mariner of Coleridge from Authors tiles series by John Moyr Smith for Minton Hollins & Co at Gladstone Pottery Museum. Longton, Stoke, England
Craven Dunnill
(1880s on)		 Art Nouveau mosaic tile panel by Craven Dunnill & Co used to decorate their factory at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Details of pub tile replicas by Craven Dunnill of Jackfield after originals by same firm at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Array of colored tiles by Craven Dunnill & Co at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England
Crown Liquor Saloon (c1885), Belfast Front facade with decorations dating from c1885 of Crown Liquor Saloon. Belfast, Northern Ireland External tiles at Crown Liquor Saloon. Belfast, Northern Ireland Ceramic tiles around bar at Crown Liquor Saloon. Belfast, Northern Ireland
Pilkington Pottery
(1900s-30s) Manchester, England		 Sailing ship relief-moulded tile by C.F.A. Voysey for Pilkington tiles at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Painted nature tiles by Marsden tiles & relief moulded fish by Pilkington's Tile & Potter Co of Manchester at Gladstone Pottery Museum. Longton, Stoke, England Tulip & flower relief-moulded tile by C.F.A. Voysey for Pilkington tiles at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England
Antoni Gaudí Tiles & Mosaics (1880s-1926) Barcelona Casa Batlló. Barcelona, Spain Gaudi's spiral chimney's atop Palau Güell. Barcelona, Spain Detail of tiles by Gaudi on El Capricho Comillas. Comillas, Spain
Rookwood Pottery
(1880-on) Cincinnati, OH		 Earthenware tile chimney surround by John Hamilton Delaney Wareham of Rookwood Pottery Co. of Cincinnati at Cincinnati Art Museum. Cincinnati, OH Earthenware plaque: Winter's Enchantment by Sarah Elizabeth Coyne of Rookwood Pottery Co. of Cincinnati at Cincinnati Art Museum. Cincinnati, OH Architectural faience Fountain of Water Nymph by Clement J. Barnhorn of Rookwood Pottery Co. of Cincinnati at Cincinnati Art Museum. Cincinnati, OH
Pierhead Building (1897) Cardiff, Wales Terracotta panel with train engine & sailing ship on the Pierhead building at Cardiff Bay. Cardiff, Wales Ornamental tile arrangement in green, rose & gold in Pierhead building at Cardiff Bay. Cardiff, Wales Arrays of ornamental tiles made from Welsh clay with hand-painted panel from J.C. Edwards Ltd. in Ruabon Denbighshire in Pierhead building at Cardiff Bay. Cardiff, Wales
Grueby Tiles
(early 1900s) Boston maker for NYC subway		 Art & crafts ceramic tile by Addison B. LeBouttillier for Grueby Faience Co. of Boston, MA at Museum of Fine Arts. Boston, MA Beaver tiles in Astor Place subway station by Grueby Faience Company. New York, NY Eagle with #14 shield tiles in 14th St. subway station by Grueby Faience Company. New York, NY
Dodik Jégou Folk Tiles (1950s-2024) St Malo, Brittany, France Brittany folk musicians with roosters painting on ceramic tile by Dodik Jégou. St Malo, France Queen & court on Breton ship painting on ceramic tile by Dodik Jégou. St Malo, France Religious women of Brittany painting on ceramic tile by Dodik Jégou. St Malo, France
Architectural Tile Tiled dome of Pima County Courthouse. Tucson, AZ Egyptian-style tile on fireplace in washroom of Fox Theatre. Atlanta, GA Santa Fe Arts & Crafts tile mural in Depot. San Diego, CA
Gladstone Pottery Museum, Art Tile Collection, Longton, Stoke, England Industrial era brick beehive-shaped kilns at Gladstone Pottery Museum. Longton, Stoke, England Display about forming encaustic tiles by moulding in a press at Gladstone Pottery Museum. Longton, Stoke, England Turinese relief-moulded, colored glazed tiles 1960-8 by James Rushton & Leonard Gladstone King for Malkin Tiles at Gladstone Pottery Museum. Longton, Stoke, England
Jackfield Tile Museum, Ironbridge, England Gallery of English tiles at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Butcher shop tile mural of sheep & cows by Alfred Potter for Maw & Co at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England Surrealist tiles made by students in course run by Craven Dunnill Jackfield at Jackfield Tile Museum. Ironbridge, England
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All photos on this page are originals by & copyrighted by Jim Steinhart.
All rights reserved. Permission required to use.

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