Illustration: Ceramic paving tiles from the Chapter House, Westminster Abbey, c13th century.
English medieval ceramic tiles came in a number of guises and formats depending on the technical expertise used, and to some extent on their geographical location. Both geometrical and figurative patterns were popular and many were used in conjunction with each other.
All of the tiles illustrated in this particular article were produced for Westminster Abbey in London and were probably laid in the thirteenth century. Typically, they are all examples of floor tiles that went to make up relatively large pavements. Most were made up of complex individual units that would then go on to make up even more complex pattern and decorative work that could cover large areas of flooring. There is no particular reason that these floor tiles from Westminster Abbey have been chosen over others, as future articles will show, rural churches and abbeys could contain tile work that was equally as sophisticated as the capital.
Illustration: Ceramic paving tiles from Westminster Abbey, c13th century.
Most of the examples remaining in England today are ecclesiastical and derive from the floors of churches, chapels and abbeys. Much of this work was prestigious and therefore perhaps to a certain extent the best examples are the ones that remain. All five of the examples shown here were produced using the inlaid pattern method. This is a process whereby the pattern itself was pressed into the moist clay tile with a printing block, the sunken portions were then filled with a white liquid clay, known as slip. After the tiles had dried, the whole tile was then covered with a clear lead glaze. This resulted after firing, in the familiar yellow or cream tinged pattern work with rich brown background.
Illustration: Ceramic paving tiles from Westminster Abbey, c13th century.
Hardly any of the larger examples shown are single tiles, all the individual tiles are in fact only partial patterns which would not have stood on their own, but needed to be fitted together to form a whole. However, one or two of the smaller examples shown here could be considered individual and not necessarily connected to any greater pattern framework and this is true of medieval English tile work in general. However, despite the standalone tile pieces it is the interconnected quality of the larger pattern work that is the draw to most. Any creative individual whether medieval or twenty first century would be unable to contain themselves from constantly rearranging these medieval tiles into endless possibilities of pattern and decorative floor work. Perhaps that is both the appeal and point of the work in the first place, the endless possibilities accrued within the single unit, lending themselves to the greater complexity and interconnectedness of the world.
Illustration: Ceramic paving tiles from Westminster Abbey, c13th century.
These English medieval tiles proved particularly attractive to the Victorian sensibility, especially when it came to the Gothic Revival. Architects, designers and manufacturers both copied and used these originals as inspiration for a whole host of decorative tile work, much of it so close to the original that in many cases when used by the Victorians in an authentic medieval setting, they are today mistaken for original medieval floors themselves.
Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin produced a range of authentically accurate medieval styled tiles in the 1840s and 1850s as did the tile companies Maw & Co, Minton & Co and a whole host of others. It has been estimated that the Victorians produced more ceramic tiles than the rest of English history put together. Many went on to produce tiles outside of the ecclesiastical world and many domestic homes benefited from a plethora of fashion and creatively inspired decorative work that ranged from the Gothic to the Turkish.
Illustration: Ceramic paving tiles from Westminster Abbey, c13th century.
However, it is perhaps the original medieval tile work that should impress, rather than the Victorian rediscovery. This sophisticated ceramic industry produced tile flooring throughout medieval England in such genuinely creative and extraordinarily skilled methods that it cannot fail to impress today. All of the makers and designers are of course nameless and now long forgotten. However, their impressive technical skills both as makers and designers, question the long held belief of many classicists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries that the medieval world was to a large extent an intermediate period between the fall of Rome and the assumed rebirth of the classical world under the Italian Renaissance.
Although strictly speaking ceramic tile work is outside the immediate remit of The Textile Blog, as is stained glass and indeed wallpaper design, it is all part of the grander surface pattern world and is therefore inextricably linked with the surface nature of textile art, design and craft. Therefore, its inclusion seems sensible and relevant.
Further reading links:
English Medieval Tiles (British Museum Paperbacks)
English Tilers (Medieval Craftsmen)
Medieval Tile Designs (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Welsh Medieval Paving Tiles
Medieval Floor Tiles Of Northern England: Pattern And Purpose: Production Between The 13th And 16th Centuries
Irish Medieval Tiles (Royal Irish Academy Monographs in Archaeology,)
Decorated Medieval Floor Tiles of Somerset
Medieval Tiles of Wales: Census of Medieval Tiles in Britain
Medieval Floor Tiles in Suffolk Churches
Creating Custom Art Tiles: Stamps And Stencils
Medieval 'Westminster' Floor Tiles (MoLAS Monograph)
Old English Tile Designs for Artists and Craftspeople (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)
Medieval Tiles (Shire Library)
