Tiles made to be looked at — figures, animals, and scenes in modeled relief.
Long before tile was something you grouted to a wall by the box, the best American and European potteries were making single pictorial panels meant to be read like pictures: a frog’s wedding procession, a flamingo at the water’s edge, cherubs and butterflies, putti driving a goat-cart. Modeled in relief and washed in colored glaze, these are the show pieces of the art-tile era — equally at home framed and hung, set into a fireplace as a centerpiece, or stood on a shelf as the small sculptures they are.
