Monday, January 7, 2013

The Home Beautiful: A Stove Tile, 1561

Stove Tile
Germany, 1561
The Victoria & Albert Museum



Today is one of those days when my Internet connection is being apoplectic and deciding at random points to cut out and make my router blink and flash as if it’s having a seizure. So, forgive the slowness of my communications today. Frankly, I might as well be in the Nineteenth Century. I often wish that were the case. But, then, I remember how much I like antibiotics.

Speaking of times when people could die from a splinter, how about the Sixteenth Century?

That’s when this nifty tile was made in Germany—around 1561. These kinds of tiles were made to enclose wood-burning stoves. These ties were usually rectangular with charming relief scenes on them. This one, for example depicts “Faith,” and it’s from a series of tiles made in Köln to represent the Virtues and Liberal Arts. The earthenware tile shows Faith holding a cross and goblet, which seems appropriate. It is neatly adorned with colored glazes.



 


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