Arts and crafts tiles
Posted on September 1, 2007 - Filed Under Article, Artists & Potters |
Pottery was one of the most prolific branches of the decorative arts during the arts and crafts period. It was produced both by factories employing many potters and decorators and by individuals working on a very small scale. A great deal of experimentation resulted in a number of innovative glazing and firing techniques. These were then applied to reinterpretations of historical motifs and new forms of decoration to produce some of the most interesting products of the time. As described by a writer for House Beautiful in 1899: “In the manufacture of pottery, oftener perhaps than in other crafts, one meets with this renascent spirit; possibly because its subtle chemistry offers an opportunity to the scientist as well as the artist. It is a fascinating and absorbing art, claiming the utmost devotion, but lavishly rewarding the man who can discover its secrets.”
One such man was Ernest Allan Batchelder, who founded the Batchelder Tile Company in Pasadena, California, in 1909. He was no stranger to the tenets of the arts and crafts movement as he had studied at the School of Arts and Crafts in Birmingham, England; taught at the Harvard Summer School of Design; established the Handicraft Guild of Minneapolis; and directed the arts and crafts department at Throop Polytechnic Institute (now the California Institute of Technology) in Pasadena. He published Principles of Design in 1904 and his articles for The Craftsman were compiled in a book entitled Design in Theory and Practice in 1910.
Batchelder purchased a house and studio in Pasadena in 1909, where he erected a kiln and began to make decorative tiles. His products were timely and well received, for southern California was enjoying a boom in new construction. He took on Frederick L. Brown as his partner, renaming the pottery Batchelder and Brown in 1912, and moving the business to South Pasadena. Batchelder’s tiles won a gold medal at the 1915 San Diego Exposition and his samples were used in showrooms in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. In 1920 he expanded with a new partner, Lucien H. Wilson, and renamed the firm Batchelder-Wilson. By 1925 there were 175 employees, and three years later the pottery moved to larger quarters in Los Angeles. The handmade earthenware tiles were used to embellish building facades, to create fireplace surrounds, and for walls, floors, fountains, and pools. Batchelder adorned many of his fries with medieval geometric designs, animals, and landscapes. His Mediterranean and Mayan subjects were particularly popular in California. The Depression forced Batchelder out of business in 1932, but four years later he began to make pottery objects, which he continued to do until the 1950s.
A wide range of Batchelder’s products have been replicated by an artisan in California who is represented by the firm Waterworks Tile. The tiles are made using many of Batchelder’s original techniques including carving and molding relief tiles by hand and hand-pressing undecorated tiles. The tiles are not glazed but may be treated for use outdoors or in bathrooms. The company is located in Danbury, Connecticut, and maintains showrooms throughout the United States. To order a catalogue, telephone 800-899-6757.
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