Aesthetic Arts & Crafts Blue and White Elements/Seasons Tiles
Style/technique: Pictorial Print Manufacturer: Minton Hollins Dimensions: 6" x 6" Date: Circa 1885   From a fabulous and rare series by Minton Hollins representing the classical elements of earth, air, fire and water and the seasons, printed in a superb shade of blue on brilliant white bodies. Excellent artwork, economical and built upon the strength of the line without shading the illustrations depict the subjects with clarity. It appears as if the designer was challenged with representing the subjects in novel forms as the usual depictions of figural subjects have been replaced by an eclectic mixture and demonstrate the artist's wonderful sense of humour. Whilst nowadays the order earth, air, fire and water is the accepted norm it was not so in Victorian times, the sequence of fire, air, water, earth as depicted in these tiles has the provenance of Shakespeare in the play Pericles, Prince of Tyre and in the Victorian era with newly available literature for all the works of Shakespeare were iconic and influential on many aspects of art and life in the wider sense. Fire (funeral?) pyre sun brazier bowl Air bat and moon hot air balloon bird Water swan swallowing fish frog on a lily pad fish Earth basket of fruit (fruits of the earth) chicken (scrabble about in the dirt) rose The seasons tile illustrations are, spring:buttercup, summer:snipe, autumn:rose hips, winter:wild ivy. A rare series, notable for its extreme rarity is the illustration of a hot air balloon just one of two ever noted on 19thC tiles, then 'hi-tech' rarely appeared as decorative illustration in any format and certainly not on tiles. Hot air ballons had of course been in existence for around a century when this design was created so was hardly real hi-tech but there are also no trains or steamships, nothing representing modern industry at all. I have also only seen one tile representing the mining/quarrying industry which one may have expected to see given the close association between it and ceramic manufacture and that is of a packhorse so again more reflective of past times. This tile is an excellent gift for the pilot when celebrating safe landing at the end of a flight with the obligatory champagne from a silver cup and almost guaranteed to provoke a telephone call when the weather is best suited for the next flight :-) Verso fully marked as one would expect for Minton Hollins
Condition: Excellent Price: £95 (approx $192) Ref # 02709 Small and very small surface chips near bottom edge, two tiny surface chips on the swan - near invisible, a scratch on the horn of the fruit basket, other very tiny and very slight marks. Excellently bright and clean and in good colour. UK Special Delivery £103 US and World Airsure £110 Full order information Contact us Currency Converter
Condition: Very fine Price: £185 (approx $375) Ref # 02710 But one very tiny chip to the top right corner and two other minute edge chips, very slight surface marks only visible when sought after and the tile is tilted to catch them in the light. Excellently bright and clean and in good colour. UK Special Delivery £193 US and World Airsure £200 Full order information Contact us Currency Converter
Condition: Very fine Price: £125 (approx $254) Ref # 02719 A couple of minute edge chips and very slight surface marks only visible when sought after and the tile is tilted to catch them in the light. Excellently bright and clean and in good colour. UK Special Delivery £133 US and World Airsure £140 Full order information Contact us Currency Converter
Condition: Very fine Price: £125 (approx $254) Ref # 02720 A couple of minute edge chips and very slight surface marks only visible when sought after and the tile is tilted to catch them in the light. Excellently bright and clean and in good colour. UK Special Delivery £133 US and World Airsure £140 Full order information Contact us Currency Converter
The image is full size at 72 dpi (about 430 pixels wide) in maximum quality JPEG format and on screen is about the size as it would be in real life at the same distance. A larger 120 dpi image also in maximum quality JPEG format can be forwarded by email if required. The image is a little oversize rather than cropped close to the edges so that the edges can easily be seen and any chips etc can be quickly spotted. Other marks described are usually not visible at all when the tile is viewed straight as one normally sees it and can only be seen with a critical eye when the tile is tilted to catch imperfections in reflected light. For more details of how we describe marks see Condition.

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