An owl catches a mouse on this tile c.1895. |
De Morgan trained at the Royal Academy Schools at he same time as the painter Simeon Solomon, and through his friendship with another painter, Henry Holiday (who also painted furniture for Williams Burges and William Morris) was introduced to Morris, later designing ceramics, furniture and stained glass for Morris & Co. In 1887 he married the Pre-Raphaelite painter, Evelyn Pickering.
A typical De Morgan motif - a galleon with fish, c.1895. |
The tiles in the collection feature De Morgan's classic themes of fantastical creatures and galleons. His early work shows an influence or awareness of the ideas of the Arts and Crafts Movement but his style develops away from the medieval motifs of his peers as De Morgan becomes enamoured with Persian ceramics (today what would be known as fifteenth-and-sixteenth century Iznik Ware).
The striking tile below uses a two tone pattern in lustred red and a muted pink. The background is made of plant forms stylised to a geometric decorative extreme providing a back-drop of pure pattern for the fanciful scene. In the foreground an eagle rampant and a curious coil-tailed, bird-beaked creature face each other in profile. A similar tile, with the motif in reverse was used with others in Arnold Mitchell's 1900 designed house, The Orchard, in Harrow, London.
Lustre glazed tile, c.1900 |
Kristian Purcell, Curatorial Assistant
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