- Style/technique: art nouveau
majolica
- Manufacturer: Marsden Tile Co
- Pattern number K359
- Dimensions: 6" x 6"
- Date: circa 1901
A rare and excellent pair of art nouveau tiles
the design filling the tile and bold in every
way. Fabulous movement with intricacy and
subtlety, wildly asymmetric, bright natural
colours with a nice pink cheekily emerging from
within the petals, super tiles. The pattern
number suggests an origination date in the
spring of 1901, a Marsden tile of similar
boldness and asymmetry with pattern number K336
was registered in the first week of 1901. Given
the rarity it is taken that few were made and so
the likely manufacture date is also 1901.
We bought three pairs of these together from
a fireplace a few years ago, two are in famous
collections, this is the third. Never seen
before or since, not even in a book, catalogue
or website. Unfortunate that they are so rare
but one can understand the rarity for whilst
such bold designs appeal to collectors almost
inevitably for installing the decision is shared
and agreement on such pomposity in decoration is
difficult to achieve.
Handed pairs of tiles are rare especially in
majolica, mostly handpainted tiles occur but
also a few prints, I find it surprising as some
of the wildly asymmetric tiles would I believe
have sold much better if paired, I think of some
from Richards in particular. A pair makes the
vision whole for symmetry is desirable a trait
that seems to have developed from the symmetry
of faces and is widely represented in pure
design as we see in most art nouveau tiles. Many
tile designs, especially printed tiles, are set
from the corner so that they may be arranged as
handed either side of the fireplace so it was
known as a desiable feature but few justifies
the extra expense of pattern making. Only
Mintons Ltd in their few years of excellence in
majolica tile making prior to the turn of the
century, Meakin and Marsden as far as I can
recall made any handed pairs of moulded majolica
tiles. Marsden had previously made stencilled
pairs and it is even more surprising that no
other company did for with this process the set
up cost of making the pattern was the
lowest.
There were however great technical
difficulties in making tools for the manufacture
of pairs, today we may easily reverse an image
on the computer and send it to the engraving or
moulding machine but in those days making the
tool demanded great skills of the
artist/engineer. Even tube lined tiles are
rarely found in handed pairs in this case the
artist will produce different lines according to
the hand, to best make pairs of patterns
ambidexterity is almost a requirement. Any
significant deviation between the pair is very
easy to see, even more than that it stands out
and jars. Customers in showrooms will pick up a
pair and hold them together even if they are to
be displayed a foot or two away either side of a
fireplace, perhaps this may explain why a higher
proportion of tile panels are paired, they are
too cumbersome to be held in the hand.
So these are a fabulous and rare pair of
tiles, a triumph of the blend of the design and
technical prowess much loved by appreciators of
art nouveau tiles.
Versos very clean, no maker's mark as usual
for Marsden, pattern number rubber stamped.
Condition: Very good
Price: £440 (approx $629)
Ref: 03735
