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Tile

Tile

  • Place of origin:

    Hereford, England (made)
    Saxmundham, United Kingdom (painted)

  • Date:

    ca.1964 (made)
    ca.1964 (painted)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Hereford Tiles (maker)
    Florian Studios (painter)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    Transfer printed, painted underglaze

  • Credit Line:

    Richard Vincent Hughes Bequest

  • Museum number:

    S.317-1981

  • Gallery location:

    In Storage

  • Image in copyright

This tile may have been issued as a souvenir of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare's birth, celebrated in 1964. It follows a tradition of ceramic tiles printed with theatrical images which began in the late 18th century when the technique of transfer-printing on to ceramic tiles was introduced.

Although the tile bears the title The Merry Wives of Windsor, it appears to show a scene from the Henry IV plays, with the rogue Falstaff and his cronies sitting in The Boar's Head tavern in London's Eastcheap. Falstaff appears in both The Merry Wives and the two Henry IV plays, and it has been suggested that Queen Elizabeth I insisted that Shakespeare introduce the popular character of Falstaff into The Merry Wives of Windsor so soon after writing the Henry plays.

Physical description

A tile painted with a scene from The Merry Wives of Windsor , Falstaff and cronies sitting at a tavern table. Mrs Quickly has a tankard in her right hand. The tile is painted in underglaze in blue, magenta, yellow, green and brown. 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' is written in the top right hand corner.

Place of Origin

Hereford, England (made)
Saxmundham, United Kingdom (painted)

Date

ca.1964 (made)
ca.1964 (painted)

Artist/maker

Hereford Tiles (maker)
Florian Studios (painter)

Materials and Techniques

Transfer printed, painted underglaze

Marks and inscriptions

'The Merry Wives of Windsor'
Russian postage stamp
Shakespeare 400 celebrates 1964
'TILE BODY MADE BY HEREFORD TILES LTD. FOR FLORIAN STUDIOS SAXMUNDHAM SUFFOLK'
17
T8

Dimensions

Height: 15.3 cm, Width: 15.3 cm

Descriptive line

Tile illustrated with a scene from Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Windsor. Transfer print, hand-coloured, by Florian Studios, Saxmundham. Issued on the 400th anniversay of the birth of Shakespeare.

Techniques

Underglaze

Subjects depicted

Figures

Categories

Tiles

Collection code

T&P

Qr_O118621
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