Mr. Blashfield’s name is very intimately connected with the subject of encaustic paving-tiles, having been associated with the late Mr. Herbert Minton in their revival. In reference to this the following extract from a paper read by him is interesting:—
“One of the greatest revivals in pottery, connected with architecture, took place about 1833. Mr. Wright, of Shelton, obtained a patent for making inlaid tiles. This patent was bought by the late Mr. Herbert Minton, who improved upon it, and produced the tiles now so commonly used in churches.
“In 1840, Richard Prosser, of Birmingham, took a patent for making buttons in china. In 1841, buttons made from the body of which porcelain is constituted were very largely manufactured by the late Mr. Herbert Minton, under this patent of Prosser’s; and having, myself, for several years, made inlaid pavements and imitations of old mosaic and tesselated work, I conceived that Prosser’s invention would make tesseræ and tiles, and I suggested to Minton and Prosser the enlargement of the patent for this purpose. I then made arrangements to carry out this invention, and laid the first designs and specimens I made before the then President of the Royal Society (the Marquis of Northampton), who kindly permitted me to exhibit them at one of his soirées, at his house in Piccadilly, about the commencement of the year 1843. He then introduced the subject to a great number of noblemen, and especially to his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, who requested an especial account of the process to be written for him, and which was done, and forms now the appendix to the second edition of a work I first published in 1842, through Mr. Owen Jones, on Tesselated Pavements. In 1843, I published a work upon Encaustic Tiles, with ninety-six copies of ancient tiles drawn half the full size, and also designs of pavements. The drawings were arranged and copied on stone by Mr. Owen Jones. I also employed Mr. Lewis, Mr. Kendall, and other architects on the same subject, and especially Mr. Digby Wyatt, who copied for me in Italy the remains of the mosaic works of the Middle Ages, from San Lorenzo, St. Mark’s, and other places; and which has since been drawn on stone, and published by him, under the title of ‘The Geometrical Mosaics of the Middle Ages.’ The Society of Arts, London, also kindly permitted me to lecture on the subject, and constantly to bring it forward—so that, by the end of the year 1845, the trade in tesselated pavements, inlaid tiles, and Venetian floors, had gained a firm footing; but, from various circumstances, and after spending many thousand pounds in bringing the subject fully into notice, I was obliged to surrender all interest in it to the manufacturer, Herbert Minton. Since this date, Minton and Hollins have revived the art of majolica and Palissy ware, and produced the most magnificent specimens, both in point of size and color, ever attained in this description of pottery.”
Fig. 825.
