Tile thumbnail 1
Tile thumbnail 2
On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Tile

ca. 1903 (designed)
Artist/Maker
Villeroy & Boch (manufacturer)
Behrens, Peter (designer)
Place of origin
Mettlach (made)

The architect and industrial designer Peter Behrens produced a number of tile designs for Villeroy and Boch. Designed following Behrens’ appointment as director of the Kunstgewerbeschule in Düsseldorf in 1903, their taut geometrical patterns represent a move away from Art Nouveau towards a new vocabulary of precise abstract forms.

Object details

Categories
Tiles
Ceramics
Object type
Tile
Materials and techniques
Stoneware, inlaid
Stoneware
Brief description
Tile, inlaid in blue, designed by Peter Behrens, Villeroy & Boch, Mettlach, Germany, ca. 1903
Physical description
Square stoneware tile, with surface layer of fine buff clay over a coarser body. Inlaid with a design in blue clay. One corner of the tile decorated with a concentric spiral pattern in buff and blue, the remainer of the tile buff edged with a blue line.
Dimensions
  • Width: 15.0cm
  • Height: 15.0cm
Marks and inscriptions
unmarked
Object history
Tiles of this design were used in Peter Behrens' scheme for the Jungbrunnen restaurant at the Kunst-und- Gartenbau-Ausstellung held in Düsseldorf in 1904.
Summary
The architect and industrial designer Peter Behrens produced a number of tile designs for Villeroy and Boch. Designed following Behrens’ appointment as director of the Kunstgewerbeschule in Düsseldorf in 1903, their taut geometrical patterns represent a move away from Art Nouveau towards a new vocabulary of precise abstract forms.
Bibliographic references
  • Graves, Alun. Tiles and Tilework of Europe. London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 2002, fig 5.30, p136.
  • Museum Künstlerkolonie Darmstadt. [catalogue]. Darmstadt: 1990. p. 15.
  • Keramische Monatshefte. February, 1906.
Collection
Ceramics Collection
Accession number
C.25-1998

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Record createdMarch 4, 2004
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O96245/tile-behrens-peter/
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