Tile
ca.1964 (made), ca.1964 (printed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This tile was one of hundreds of products produced in the early 1960s illustrated with images of the Liverpool group The Beatles. Paul McCartney (b.1942) was the bass guitar player and one of its two major song-writers. Famous for his songs including Yesterday and She Loves You, Paul McCartney went on to form the group Wings, and to continue as a successful solo artist. In 2004 he and his backing band headlined at the Glastonbury Festival, forty years after The Beatles originally shot to success.
The earliest examples of Beatles' merchandising were produced in the United States, after the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein sold licensing rights to Seltaeb, the American company whose name spelt Beatles backwards. After a flood of successful Beatles items from stockings to talcum powder, Epstein realised the lucrative potential of the market and kept firm control of all future licensing. This tile is one of a set of five produced in England, one representing each individual band member and one showing the group.
The earliest examples of Beatles' merchandising were produced in the United States, after the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein sold licensing rights to Seltaeb, the American company whose name spelt Beatles backwards. After a flood of successful Beatles items from stockings to talcum powder, Epstein realised the lucrative potential of the market and kept firm control of all future licensing. This tile is one of a set of five produced in England, one representing each individual band member and one showing the group.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Glazed earthenware |
| Brief description | Glazed earthenware tile decorated by Dorincourt Potters with an image of The Beatles' Paul McCartney (b.1942), English, ca.1964 |
| Physical description | Rectangular earthenware tile, glazed recto and printed with an under-glaze transfer print of Paul McCartney, originally from a painting. With Paul McCartney's autograph below the image, lower left hand corner, and the artist's monogram 'IW' bottom right. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Object history | Historical significance: These tiles would have been issued circa 1964, at the height of the craze for The Beatles. |
| Production | The tiles were made by Carter Tiles and decorated by Dorincourt Potters. Dorincourt Industries was a charity working with disabled people and had a range of services, much of it with a graphic arts association. In about 1999 a new company was formed, Dorincourt Lion Litho, with 15% of all future profits going to the Queen Elizabeth Foundation for the disabled. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | This tile was one of hundreds of products produced in the early 1960s illustrated with images of the Liverpool group The Beatles. Paul McCartney (b.1942) was the bass guitar player and one of its two major song-writers. Famous for his songs including Yesterday and She Loves You, Paul McCartney went on to form the group Wings, and to continue as a successful solo artist. In 2004 he and his backing band headlined at the Glastonbury Festival, forty years after The Beatles originally shot to success. The earliest examples of Beatles' merchandising were produced in the United States, after the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein sold licensing rights to Seltaeb, the American company whose name spelt Beatles backwards. After a flood of successful Beatles items from stockings to talcum powder, Epstein realised the lucrative potential of the market and kept firm control of all future licensing. This tile is one of a set of five produced in England, one representing each individual band member and one showing the group. |
| Associated objects | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.50-2005 |
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| Record created | April 14, 2005 |
| Record URL |
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