Tile

Item number 3401/29 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

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Data
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Description

Square ceramic tile with floral motif painted on front. Surface and sides are glazed. Background painted black through precise cross-hatching. Front of tile covered entirely in light blue cherry blossoms, darkening towards the petal edges, on white branches. Six horizontal ridges on back of tile. Inscription on back.

Cultural Context

Wall tile.

Iconographic Meaning

The tile is Japanese influenced, incorporating Japanese iconography, a trend that was popular in Victorian tiles at the time. It is likely depicting cherry blossoms, a Japanese national emblem.

Specific Techniques

Tile was manufactured by dust-pressing, a technique that uses clay milled to a fine powder with low moisture content, then pressed in a die at high pressure. The design was transfer-printed, a technique in which an image from an engraved plate is transferred to a tile, usually, requiring transfer paper to be run through a printing press with the engraved plate to pick up the ink, the design from the transfer paper could then be rubbed onto the tile. The blue of the petals was painted on by hand.