Ceramics home: Decorative tiles.

Decorative tiles

In the early medieval period tiles were largely used in religious establishments - churches and monastaries. The tiles were handmade, moulded to give a design, and glazed. The tiles were very thick, as they were used as floor rather than wall tiles.

Ceramic tiles were also used to line stoves designed to heat the rooms of large houses. These stoves were a status symbol, and the tiles that covered them were therefore highly decorated. The tiles show human and animal figures, floral designs, and also the crests or initials of the house owner. They were usually glazed with a green glaze.

From the end of the sixteenth century, tin-glazed wall tiles were being produced. The tin glaze gave an opaque white colour, which could be painted with a variety of bright colours, although chiefly blue. The tiles were sometimes painted to give larger panels, making up a large picture. Individual tiles frequently feature biblical scenes.

Featured types

Medieval floor tiles (1066 - 1485)

Stove tiles (1500 - 1700)

Tin-glazed tiles (1570 - 1850)

Related objects

There are 327 related objects.

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36.144/5a tile. 1570-1636	25637 tile. 1571-1663	85.3/70 tile. 1571-1780	26559 tile. 1601-1650
85.3/29 tile. 1625-1670	A26658 tile. 1801-1900	41.3/4 tile. 1801-1900	41.3/6 tile. 1801-1900
41.3/11 tile. 1801-1900	41.3/12 tile. 1801-1900	41.3/8 tile. 1801-1900	28.135/2 tile. 1871-1914
Z4177 tile. c. 1810	41.3/3 tile. c. 1881-1900	37.155/3 tile. Late Saxon; 11th century	NN21220 tile. Medieval; 13th-14th century
24867 tile. Roman	23107 tile. Roman	84.369/1 tile. Roman	84.6 tile. Roman
13447 tile. Roman	95.517 tile. Roman	95.518 tile. Roman	95.519 tile. Roman

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