William De Morgan
#SUBHEADING# The 'Arts and Crafts Movement'#SUBHEADINGEND# With William Morris as its figure-head the movement included artists, designers and architects and was a reaction to the highly mechanised production of decorative items at the time. It was felt that popular decorative styles were over-ornamental and not appropriate for the materials or for the purpose of the item. The movement sought to revive traditional craftsmanship and advocated simple designs, usually derived from nature, that were more honest to the materials and the function of the item. De Morgan initially worked with glass and he first experimented with making tiles in the 1870s when he set up a kiln in the basement of his home in Chelsea. These premises were not totally satisfactory and at one stage his experiments resulted in a fire! In 1882, he moved and started production at Merton Abbey, near London before establishing his Sands End factory in Fulham. The impressed back-stamp marks on his hand-made tiles indicate the site at which they were made. #SUBHEADING# Painted Paper Tile Designs #SUBHEADINGEND# #IMAGE# One of the first tile designs produced by De Morgan in the late 1870s was 'Bedford Park Daisy' and this also proved to be of the most successful designs made by the De Morgan company. Although the tiles were 'hand-painted', the paint was not applied directly onto the tiles. Using the 'painted paper' technique, the design was copied from a master drawing onto a thin piece of paper. This was then placed onto the tile and brushed with a liquid or powdered glaze. When the tile was fired, the paper was burnt away and the painted design became part of the glaze. This allowed decoration on the tiles to be done with precision but also gave the look of hand-painting. The process also ensured that the same design could be repeatedly reproduced and also made using different colours. #SUBHEADING# Lustre Glaze Tiles #SUBHEADINGEND# Towards the end of the nineteenth century, William De Morgan experimented with and re-introduced the use of 'lustre glazes' for his tiles and other pottery items. These were ceramic colours that became a thin shimmering metallic film during firing in the kiln. They were either applied in areas or as a coating. #IMAGE# #SUBHEADING# Tile Design #SUBHEADINGEND# Most of De Morgan's tile designs feature images derived from nature including flowers, plants, birds and animals. One series of tiles called 'Fantastical Creatures' features mythological creatures including dragons and griffins whilst other tiles depict real animals from the natural world such as boars, snakes, eagles and peacocks. This was not his only inspiration as De Morgan also produced a series of tiles depicting stylised galleon-type ships at full sail. De Morgan was also heavily inspired by traditional Persian or 'Isnik' designs from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. His designs often featured motifs and shades of blue, green, turquoise and pink favoured by the Persians.
