Floor Tile thumbnail 1
Floor Tile thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 122

Floor Tile

1847-1850 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type

Encaustic tiles (tiles with decoration inlaid into their surface with contrastingly coloured clay) were produced in large quantities from the mid-19th century. The firm of Minton & Co. was one of the major producers.



Places

The old Palace of Westminster, London, was largely destroyed by fire in 1834, so a competition was held to design a new building for the seat of Parliament. After much debate, a stipulation was made that the new design had to be in the Gothic or Elizabethan Revival style. Charles Barry (1795-1860), who was assisted in his Gothic Revival design by A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852), won the competition. Construction of the new building started in 1840. The House of Lords was opened to great acclaim in 1847, and the House of Commons was completed in 1852. Encaustic tiles, a common feature of Gothic Revival buildings, were used extensively throughout the Palace of Westminster.



Design & Designing

In 1844 Charles Barry again enlisted Pugin's help, this time to design the interior fittings for the Palace of Westminster. Barry prevented the government from putting the production of the designs out to tender. This allowed Pugin to work with his established contacts in the manufacturing industries. The encaustic tiles were produced by the firm of his friend Herbert Minton (1793-1858) in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Pugin is reputed to have sketched the designs for a number of encaustic tiles while on the train to Stoke.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Earthenware, with inlaid decoration
Brief description
Encaustic tiles from the House of Commons
Dimensions
  • Height: 15.3cm
  • Width: 15.3cm
Dimensions checked: Measured; 19/01/2000 by DJ
Style
Gallery label
British Galleries: The tile floors that Pugin designed for the new Palace of Westminster were the earliest extensive series of tile floors made in the 19th century.(27/03/2003)
Credit line
Given by the Department of the Environment
Object history
Historical significance: The tile floors that Pugin designed for the new Palace of Westminster were the earliest extensive series of tile floors made in the 19th century.
Summary
Object Type

Encaustic tiles (tiles with decoration inlaid into their surface with contrastingly coloured clay) were produced in large quantities from the mid-19th century. The firm of Minton & Co. was one of the major producers.



Places

The old Palace of Westminster, London, was largely destroyed by fire in 1834, so a competition was held to design a new building for the seat of Parliament. After much debate, a stipulation was made that the new design had to be in the Gothic or Elizabethan Revival style. Charles Barry (1795-1860), who was assisted in his Gothic Revival design by A.W.N. Pugin (1812-1852), won the competition. Construction of the new building started in 1840. The House of Lords was opened to great acclaim in 1847, and the House of Commons was completed in 1852. Encaustic tiles, a common feature of Gothic Revival buildings, were used extensively throughout the Palace of Westminster.



Design & Designing

In 1844 Charles Barry again enlisted Pugin's help, this time to design the interior fittings for the Palace of Westminster. Barry prevented the government from putting the production of the designs out to tender. This allowed Pugin to work with his established contacts in the manufacturing industries. The encaustic tiles were produced by the firm of his friend Herbert Minton (1793-1858) in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. Pugin is reputed to have sketched the designs for a number of encaustic tiles while on the train to Stoke.
Associated objects
Other number
Handling 21 - Previous number
Collection
Accession number
C.1:2-1985

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Record createdMay 9, 2003
Record URL
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