Antique Hamilton Tile Works Grapes & Pear High-Relief Fruit Tile — 12×6

Description

An ivory-and-pale-blue ground washed through with amber and umber that pool dark in the hollows and break light over the raised fruit; a fine crackle covers the whole surface. A full cluster of grapes spills over a grape leaf, with a pear at the base and a tendril curling off the vine, the relief standing high enough to throw real shadow. Marked on the reverse THE HAMILTON TILE WORKS CO, HAMILTON, OHIO — incorporated 1884, grown from Adolph Metzner’s pottery, known for the richness of its glazes and modeling before the company closed in 1897. A 12 x 6 in high-relief fruit tile reads as the center of a surround, a backsplash inset, or framed as a relief panel. Period crackle; mortar residue on the reverse from the original installation; intact.