Tile

PeriodCirca 1700 - 1740

Place MadeNetherlands

MediumTin glazed earthenware

Dimensions5.63 × 5.63 × 0.63 in. (14.3 × 14.3 × 1.6 cm)

InscribedTwo paper sheets with typewritten inscriptions are glued to the back of the frame paper. The upper sheet reads "This tile was given to me by Miss Josephine Herman, whose father was the oldest Park Guard then living, 1909, and who lived in this house for a great many years. The house has since been torn down." The second sheet reads "This tile is out of the house occupied by Lord Cornwallis, in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pa., during the Revolutionary War. Given to me while in Phila., Pa., 1909. Josephine A. Brown."

ClassificationsArchitectural Features

Credit LineGift of Miss Josephine A. Brown, 1947

Object number1979.547.2

DescriptionA bright white tin glazed earthenware square tile, with yellow clay body. A simple and bold central motif of a vase on the ground filled with a large floral bouquet. Two small oblong elements with stems, perhaps flower buds or mushrooms, flank the vase. The tile is framed in a narrow white painted wood frame with an inner gilt bead edge. The frame is backed with paper.
Curatorial RemarksDuring the 16th and 17th centuries, Chinese porcelain was rare, exotic, and highly prized. European potters attempted to replicate the fine, soft white clay but had no success. The Chinese used kaolin, a high-quality, high-firing clay resulting in thin, fine ceramics. In the Delft region of Holland, potters there developed a method of coating the yellowish or brownish regional clay with a hard tin glaze, resulting in a vivid white background, on which blue or polychromed glazes and designs showed off dramatically. The sturdy clay also made excellent ceramics for architectural decoration. Fireplaces in Europe and in the American colonies were often surrounded by colorful glazed tiles, able to withstand the high heat of the hearth. It is estimated that about 800 million individual tiles were manufactured in the 17th and 18th centuries. Pottery decorators gradually moved from copying Chinese designs and motifs to topics and scenes closer to home. Figures dressed in European garments, windmills, farm houses, biblical scenes, and many other designs were hand painted.NotesJosephine A. Brown was born in Keyport, Monmouth County, on 13 August 1858, a daughter of Cornelius H. Brown (1830 - 1905) and Emaline F. Strong (1829 - 1888). Her father was the leading builder and contractor in Keyport, erecting many of the churches and commercial buildings that still stand today. Miss Brown lived all her life in the house where she was born at 162 Broadway. After graduating from the Keyport Graded School, she taught for several years before becoming employed in the law offices of George W. Brown and Henry E. Ackerson. But for many years she served as librarian at the Keyport Free Public Library. Josie, as she was called, was an avid student of genealogy and local history. She compiled a manuscript history of Keyport, as well as a history of the Calvary Methodist Church, of which the family were members. She also contributed much original research to A Genealogy of the Warne Family in America, a definitive work by the Rev. George Warne Labaw that was published in 1911. Miss Brown was a member of the Association for more than fifty years, and a generous donor to its museum and library collections. She died on 23 August 1951, having just turned ninety-three. Interment took place in the family plot at Green Grove Cemetery in Keyport. Her niece, Miss J. Mabel Brown (1885 - 1980), who made her home with her aunt, served as a trustee of the Association from 1944 to 1972, and as President from 1948 to 1950.

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