Here is one of my latest designs from a set of tiles at Thornbury Castle.
The original tiles were laid for Edward Stafford the 3rd Duke of Buckingham, it is the royal garter and it is possibly one of the reasons that he fell out of favour with Henry VIII leading to his downfall and ultimately his execution for treason on May 17th 1521 on Tower Hill.
Notice the carver couldn’t quite work out how to reverse the letter “N”
The same design is available in cobalt blue and white, although the White is actually a very light cream colour.
The white clay shrinks less than the terracotta, meaning this complete set of tiles are around 255mm square
NEATH ABBEY HUNTING SCENE
I’ve finally got round to carving the final tile in the hunting scene from Neath Abbey, I had to guess a little with the huntsman as I have searched all over and can’t find a complete design. I’m not sure what he was supposed to be holding in his left hand, so I presumed that he had a hand full of all the leashes for his hounds. I’ll be happy to be proved wrong with a decent image of a complete tile!
Museum Tile
I was asked if I could replicate a design of a tile showing Saladin. This was my version, note the thickness of the tile which is almost 1 inch thick.
There is also the partner tile to this that shows Richard I in battle against Saladin, The opposing lance enters into each others design. Currently being carved.
The back of the tile showing scoops that were applied to aid drying and fixing in place.
Tiles from around Europe.
I have come across a few designs that are pleasing on the eye and felt I just had to reproduce them, so out came the blocks for carving!
On the left is a Flemish Lion rampant that was produced in numbers from the perhaps the 15th to 17th century, some of the last medieval style tiles before the gothic revival in the 19th century.
On the right a Griffin from Ireland.
Diest, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium
I came across this tile on Pinterest, and on checking further it is one of a set of 16th century tiles in St.-Sulpitiuskerk museum from the church choir. There are lots of designs and the artistry and carving are great. II’ll probably end up carving several of them, I admire the skill of the craftsmen of the day. Ive just finished carving the bear tile and I’m happy so far, shown on the right. I cant wait to glaze it, Maybe I’ll try the jester next?
The fool!
Check out the quality of the carving on this design, the lines are tapered in places to give shape to the material around his head. Quite a scary face from the 16th century?
I’ve filled in the bit of missing drum strap, I guess it broke off the original block during carving?
The complete set of tiles in the museum choir