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Decorative Tiles illustrated by Randolph Caldecott
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An 8 inch square tile on a Minton's blank, with "Braying Ass" scene, illustrated by Randolph Caldecott, from the
"John
Gilpin" Picture Book.
(Our thanks to a former owner, who kindly provided this picture.)
Another version of this same picture, but on a 6 inch
Minton tile blank, is one of a set of five illustrations from this book.
Two other pictures were each spread across three tiles, and two further
illustrations appeared on other single tiles. 9 tiles in all.
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Decorative tiles were popular in Victorian times, and tiles based on Randolph
Caldecott's illustrations were used in children's wards of hospitals as well as
in private homes. However, relatively few have survived, and the
occasional ones in good condition which are offered for sale can fetch much
higher prices than the books on which they are based.
An excellent article about these tiles, by Anne Harris, was published in Glazed
Expressions , the magazine of the Tiles
and Architectural Ceramics Society, Winter 1989-90. We reprinted
it (with their kind permission) in our own magazine, The Caldecott
Sketch, in Spring 2004. A few copies of this issue are still
available, but only to members of the Society. For Copyright reasons we
are unable to publish the material on this website.
For further reading
Our Research Officer recommends these books about illustrations on tiles:
 | The Decorated Tile
An Illustrated History of English Tile-Making and
Design. By J and B Austwick. Publisher - Pitman House, First Published 1980. |
| Collecting Victorian Tiles - By Terence A. Lockett. Publisher - Antique
Collectors' Club. Reprinted 1982, 1984, 1994. |
| 20th Century Tiles - Shire Album by Hans van Lemmen and Published by
Shire Publications Ltd., Chris Blanchett |
| Brightening the Long Days
Hospital Tile Pictures. Published by Tiles
and Architectural Ceramics Society, 1987 - by John Greene.
This delightful book describes how tiling was thought to be, not only
more hygienic than paint on Childrens' wards, but that the subjects, such as
well known Nursery Rhyme Characters, would distract the children from
thoughts of home-sickness or Pain.
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| Victorian Tiles: Shire Album No. 67 |
| Tiles: A Collector's Guide by Hans Van Lemmen. |
| Tiled Furniture Shire Album |
| The Tiles in The Vyne. A most interesting publication by Tiles
and Architectural Ceramics Society .
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