Mostly Tiles and Architectural Ornamentation

I am an historian and collector of United States art tiles, and I recently published the third edition of "A Field Guide to the Key Patterns on the Backs of United States Ceramic Tiles, 1870s-1930s" (2010). This expanded and revised edition contains drawings of 800 different tile backs/key patterns used by approximately 200 U.S. tile producers from the 1870s through the 1930s. There are four appendices: a) markings found on the backs of U.S. tile companies; b) patents and patent drawings relating to tile backs; c) paper labels found on U.S. tiles; and d) a U.S. tile company timeline. My writings include a column, “Tile Back Views”, for Flashpoint, the Newsletter of the Tile Heritage Foundation, and for the THF’s e-newsletter. I also wrote articles about tile identification for the Journal of the American Art Pottery Association, the Newsletter of the Potteries of Trenton Society, and a chapter about Brayton Laguna Pottery tiles in Volume I of California Tiles, 1910 - 1940. A revised article about tile identification with a key pattern classification system can be found in the third edition of my Field Guide. The Field Guide is recommended for serious tile collectors/historians and preservationists and may be downloaded for free as a .pdf file from http://tilefieldguide.omeka.net/items/show/49. (Just scroll down the page and click on "File".) Another of my interests is a new website for historic U.S. tile installations. This can be accessed at https://sites.google.com/site/tileinstallationdb/, and I urge people to contribute to it. My photography can be found at http://michaelpadweephotos.weebly.com/. Contact me at mpadwee"at"nyc.rr.com.

I live in Brooklyn, NY and am married to Susan Ingham Padwee, a decorative arts historian, author and lecturer.

Country Club Plaza--Kansas City, MO.mov

The first shopping mall in the U.S. was opened in Kansas City in 1922. It was architecturally similar to Seville, Spain and contained many tile panels, terra cotta works and fountains.

Previous videos:
May 17	-	Tiled Facades of Madrid

Expanded and Revised Tile Identification Book Published

A Field Guide to the Key Patterns on the Backs of United States Ceramic Tiles, 1870s-1930s (3rd Edition)  is an 8.5" x 11", spiral-bound, 200+ page, fully revised and expanded antique tile ID field guide. It contains 800 drawings... more

Previous blog entries:
Feb 12	-	Tiles and Ceramics