Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/583

1869.] Plain and Encaustic 1 iles, for Floors. 473 PLAIN AND ENCAUSTIC TILES, FOR FLOORS. THE want of materials for floors, com- bining beauty and durability with facility for variation in the pattern, has long been felt by all engaged in build- ing ; and attempts have been made, from time to time, to meet this ; but none with any successful termination, until the manufacture of Encaustic Tiles was originated. The Romans had their mosaic pave- ments, which very probably first gave rise to the subsequent discovery of these tiles, by the endeavors which were made to imitate them, by means of colored substances inlaid upon stone or marble. Some few examples of this description of stone "marquetry" remain to this day, in a tolerable state of preservation, in Canterbury Cathedral, England, and also in one or two of the old churches and cathedrals of France, as the Abbey Church of St. Denis, and the Cathedral of St. Omer. That this was extensively adopted, and gradually modified and changed, until it by degrees led into the discovery of Encaustic Tiles, we have ample proofs, in the many specimens, which are to be seen both in England and France, the most elaborate of which is that of the Prior's Chapel, built in A. D. 1321, by Prior John De Crauden. In all these, however, the tiles were of a single color; but so combined, as to form a poly-chromatic pavement, in regular geometrical designs ; sometimes presenting great variety of form and size. It was not before the Thirteenth cen- tury, that the manufacture of tiles with more than one color was commenced ; and it flourished, for the subsequent three centuries, with considerable suc- cess. One of the earliest and most per- fect specimens is that of the Chapter- House at Westminster, which was long known, by report, to antiquaries ; but only laid open to view, a few years ago ; when the tiles, each of which bore a particular device, were found to exhibit as brilliant colors as when first laid down ; the sizes varying from about six to ten inches square. At other places, in England, similar specimens of this mosaic pavement have been met with. Towards the close of the last century, much interest was excited, among anti- quaries, by the discovery of one at Caen, in Normandy, of which the following brief description, from the London Builder, may prove of some advantage to our readers : ' The separate tiles, composing this " mosaic pavement, were supposed to be "emblazoned with the heraldic bearings "of the barons, who accompanied Wil- " liam of Normandy to England. The " pavement is supposed to have belonged " to a building forming part of a Con- " vent, or Abbey, built by William ; and "to have covered the floor of a hall " measuring one hundred and fifty feet " by ninety. The tiles were about five "inches square, made of baked earth. " Eight rows of tiles, running from east " to west, bore the arms of William's " followers ; and between these were "ornamental compartments of tiles, "formed so curiously into a maze or "labyrinth, that it is said the windings " of the lines forming the device in each "compartment extended to a mile in " length. Notwithstanding that these "rooms were used as granaries, for up- " wards of four hundred years, neither 'the damps of the wheat, the turning " and shifting of the grain, nor the " wooden shoes and spades of the peas- " ants, constantly employed in bringing " in and cleansing the wheat, have in "the least damaged the floor, or worn " off the painting from the tiles." These tesselated pavements fell into disuse, from about the period we have