Antique Trent Aubergine Majolica Surround — Chicago, 16 Tiles

Description

Aubergine pooled deepest in the relief’s hollows with flashing iridescent green; pale lavender rides the high ridges where the glaze drew back during firing. No two tiles pooled alike — the fingerprint of glaze laid by hand and fired the way Trent fired in the 1890s. Looping ribbon-scrolls rise from a base of curling leaves, tendrils spiral toward the corners, and a ground of small blossoms fills the field; medallion tiles answer with a single spiraling plume in a raised circular frame. Came out of a Chicago installation — the work of the Trent Tile Company of Trenton, New Jersey, in the era of Isaac Broome and William Gallimore. Configured as a sixteen-tile surround; 6×6 tiles, impressed TRENT mark; period crackle throughout; honest age from a century-old installation.