Moravian Pottery and Tile Works (established Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1898)
Cluny Tiles: Little Tulip and Five Petals, 1901
Glazed ceramic, 2 3/4 x 2 1/2 in. (7 x 6.4 cm)
This is a square glazed ceramic tile. It is decorated with a tulip and petal design. The top of the tulip is decorated with five peaks and includes a smaller similarly peaked shape at its center, likely a suggestion of petals.The background is in blue and the tulip shape is in white.
Long Gallery
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner oversaw all the details of the Museum during its design and construction, 1899–1902. She collaborated with the tile maker and owner of the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, Henry Chapman Mercer, on the galleries’ custom floors. Ceramicists and trained laborers in Doylestown, Pennsylvania produced Mercer’s unique designs by molding tiles from handmade casts and applying slips and glazes for firing.