|
Fractionally oversize this has been carefully
filed down top and bottom edges for the original
fitting a mere shim and barely detectable even so
it makes the tile an affordable example of this
rare series. One very tiny chip left edge, no
surface damage just a few minor glazing flaws. • Style/technique: Pictorial Print There must be a dozen or more Shakespeare
series on tile from this period this to my mind
being the greatest on six inch tiles and by
Steele & Wood. Very finely engraved and
printed with a subtlety of touch not found on
competing series, designed by the noted artist
Henry Stacy Marks and bearing his initials. Two
tiles from theis series are shown in Terence
Lockett's Collecting Victorian Tiles the maker
as ever unattributed but the artist
recognised. Steele & Wood were an early tile maker
active in the 1870s/80s that were likely
considerably more prolific than generally
thought due to lack of identification on the
generic back patterns they most often used and
few design registrations. They were in the
forefront of design in the 1870s and 1880s with
many bold characteristic contemporary patterns
and were active in technical experimentation
too. An underestimated company who rarely appear
in the literature as more of their tiles are
identified their recognition will surely grow.
High quality wares especially the biscuit indeed
a pair of fine art quality tile paintings by
Lucien Besche on Steele & Wood biscuit were
recently sold at auction. The image is full size at 72 dpi (about 430
pixels wide) in maximum quality JPEG format, 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.
|
||||||||||||||||
