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The Popish Plot
Hamme, Jan Ariens van - Enlarge image
The Popish Plot
- Object:
Tile
- Place of origin:
Lambeth, England (made)
- Date:
1679-1680 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Hamme, Jan Ariens van (possibly, producer)
Copthall pottery (possibly, manufacturer) - Materials and Techniques:
Tin-glazed earthenware with painted decoration
- Credit Line:
Given by Lady Charlotte Schreiber
- Museum number:
414:823/5-1885
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 54b, case 13
Object Type
Although there was demand for wall tiles in 17th-century Britain, it was largely met by imports from The Netherlands. These tiles represent the start of tin-glazed wall tile production in this country. Such tiles were used in a variety of different ways. The most common use was in fireplaces, but occasionally, they seem to have been employed as skirtings, as was popular in The Netherlands. Also, tiles were increasingly used to line the walls of shops, dairies and cold baths.
People
The first English tin-glazed wall tiles comparable to contemporary Dutch products seem to have produced by Jan Ariens van Hamme. He arrived from Delft with his family and 16 workmen in 1676 and established a pottery at Vauxhall in London. A warrant allowed him to produce tiles 'after the way practised in Holland'. These tiles are possibly products of the van Hamme workshop and certainly have a strong Dutch look to them. Van Hamme made an important contribution to tile-making in England, but it was short-lived as he died in 1680.
Propaganda
The tile is one of a set depicting the 'Popish Plot', a fictitious Catholic conspiracy to kill Charles II that the Reverend Titus Oates claimed to have uncovered in 1678. The fifth of nine scenes, this tile is inscribed: 'Ct [Captain] bedlow discoverer of the plott'.
