This earthenware tile was made in a pottery in one of the Germanic regions of central Europe in about 1750. The Dutch had been importing blue and white Chinese porcelain for over a century by this period, and the delftware tile-makers had therefore long been producting tiles influenced by this in blue and white. The decorator at this German pottery manufactory probably knew Dutch tiles and may have seen popular chinoiserie prints too. He was probably also aware of the curious chinoiserie decoration created by J.G. Höroldt, Director of the painter's studio at the famous Meissen porcelain factory. He has created his own chinoiserie fantasy however, combining a European mythological subject (Europa and the Bull) with Chinese-inspired elements, such as exotic birds, outsize leaves and flowers, a boy holding a bird perched on a stick and buildings which have features of churches, castles and pagodas, all with a flavour of a German hunting scene. Instead of a bull (Zeus, the king of the gods in disguise in the story) carrying off the nymph Europa, a Chinese man is riding the animal, with a boy sitting in a kind of backpack behind him in the manner of Chinese babies.
The companion tile to this one, museum number 148-1902, shows a similar fantastical chinoiserie scene which also includes a man riding in a carriage pulled by stags. The carriage has rococo panels to its sides, suggesting a mid eighteenth century date for both tiles.