Page:Archaeological Journal, Volume 5.djvu/300

iEotfccs of "Ntbi ^ulilicntions. Examples of Decorative Tiles, sometimes termed Encaustic, engraved in fac-simile, chiefly in their original size ; with introductory remarks by John Gough Nichols, F.S.A. London, 1845, 4to. Patterns of Inlaid Tiles, from Churches in the Diocese of Oxford, drawn and engraved by W. A. Church. Wallingford, J. G. Payne, 1845, 4to. Ancient Irish Pavement Tiles, existing in St. Patrick's Cathedral, &c. : with introductory remarks by Thomas Oldham, Esq., F.G.S., Dublin, 4to. The remains of decorative pavements, formed of baked clay, extensively used in former times in sacred structures and in the dwellings of our an- cestors, have recently been investigated with considerable attention. Re- garded as vestiges of a most ingenious and effective process of fabrica- tion, in connexion with the neglected subject of the fictile manufactures of the middle ages ; viewed as objects of antiquarian interest, supplying fre- quently valuable information regarding heraldry, the descent of property and endowment of religious foundations, or merely as pleasing adaptations of ornament, available for many practical purposes in our own days, the decorative tiles, found in abundant variety in Great Britain, claim alike the notice both of the architect and the antiquary. These remains have, indeed,- found increasing estimation in consequence of the successful revival of the manufacture of tile-pavements in later times, under the influence of a re- newed taste for ecclesiastical architecture and decorations, strictly in accord- ance with the best medieval examples. The attention of the curious, even in the last century, was occasionally arrested by the singular devices, the heraldic bearings or inscriptions pre- sented by these ingenious productions of fictile art. Thoresby had admitted into his museum certain ornamental tiles found at Fountains abbey : the learned Ducarel called the notice of antiquaries to the interest of the armo- rial pavement in the palace of the dukes of Normandy, at Caen. Dalla- way, Carter, Fowler, Lysons, and other authors, endeavoured to reclaim these relics from unmerited neglect, and the researches of later antiquaries have brought before us a great variety of interesting examples, ranging from the thirteenth or fourteenth century to the Reformation. The series produced by Mr. John Gough Nichols, with the accompanying memoir, comprising the results of his extended and careful researches, has supplied