Tile of African Violets by Sherwin Cotton

The Sherwin Cotton tile company, under the guidance of George Cartlidge, perfected the production of a photographic style tile in the early 1900s. This tile shows an image of an African Violet plant with flowers. The image was pressed into the clay and then a single color glaze was applied. The shading of the colors is due to the pooling and thinning of the glaze over the surfaces of the tile. This tile measures 6" square and has the typical marks for the company. The tile surface is unworn. There is some crazing and soot marks from being installed into a fireplace surround.

As a child there were always a few African violet plants on the kitchen windowsill. It would be nice to see this decorating a kitchen.