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This tube-lined glazed panel of 6 inch x 6inch tiles was made by Maw & Co., Jackfield, in 1928. Thin lines of slip clay were piped onto the tile’s surface to create areas into which glaze could be painted. During the firing, the clay lines prevented the different coloured glazes from running into each other. The company was formed in 1850 when George Maw and his younger brother Arthur bought the run-down encaustic tile making business of the Worcester Porcelain Company. Clay was transported to Worcester by river from the Ironbridge Gorge, and the Maws decided to move their works to Benthall, Ironbridge, in 1852. Here they flourished and surviving catalogues and pattern books show an explosion of designs and products, geared to the market for floor and wall tiles for completely new types of building such as railway stations, civic buildings and prestige commercial premises, as well as new and restored churches. As the Benthall site was cramped and situated on both sides of a busy road, a site of several acres by the river at Jackfield was acquired, where a new ‘Benthall’ Works was completed in 1883. The company won many medals and awards at the international exhibitions which were a feature of the latter half of the nineteenth century, and their successes included London 1862, Paris 1867, Philadelphia 1876, and Adelaide 1887. A large stand incorporating large tile panels designed by resident designer, Charles Henry Temple, was built specially for the World’s Fair in Chicago in 1893.

Category: Place , Process , Product

Institute: Ironbridge Gorge Museum

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