Details

LOT 1497

Elizabethan Period Ceramic Fire Brick Group

CIRCA 16TH CENTURY A.D.

5 1/4 -5 3/4 in. (5.9 kg total, 13.5-14.5 cm).

Comprising four bricks displaying raised designs: three scrolled vegetal compositions and a brick with facing male and female bust in roundels, swags around. [4]

Provenance

Acquired 1990s-early 2000s.
East Anglian private collection.

Literature

Cf. similar specimen in the British Museum, inventory no.OA.9377.

Footnotes

These glazed stove or floor tiles are similar to the ones of the great hall and the Tudor kitchens at Hampton Court Palace, made of ceramic, with a glaze to make it hard-wearing and washable. Not just the furnishings, but the palaces themselves were multi-coloured, with brick walls painted red, and exposed timbers in yellow, red, green and white.