The term “Victorian” does not refer to an architectural style but to the era during which the home was built, namely the period during Queen Victoria’s reign, from 1837 to 1901.
Victorians took home design very seriously and as proper etiquette dictated the more elaborate the home, the greater the owner’s wealth and social standing.
A key feature and indication of the home owners wealth would be the beautiful victorian floor tiles.
These victorian floor tiles began to be mass-produced and were used in many public buildings, churches, shops and houses for their functional properties and their decorative effect.
Victorian potters had a large cheap labour force to produce victorian floor tiles. Consequently, many experiments in tile decorating were carried out, much of the work being done by hand. Decorated wall tiles came into general use in the 1870s, the basic methods being as follows:
Encaustic: A clay pattern was embedded into the body of the tile, the two sections fusing during firing.
Plain glazes: White lead, flint, china stone and china clay were ground to form a glaze. Ground metal oxides could be added to give different colours. A clear glaze brought out the natural body colour and might be applied over any coloured decoration.
Handpainting: The artist painted freely onto a plain surface tile. A design could also be copied from an original sketch by ‘pouncing’. Alternatively a tile could be transfer printed and coloured by hand.
Sgraffitto: An early form of decoration, the tile body is covered with coats of slip that is scratched off to produce the design.
Tube lining: Slip is trailed onto the surface of the tile to make raised lines separating the areas where different colour is wanted. Coloured glazes were then applied. This technique was used for Art Nouveau tiles.
Transfer printing: This was the most common method of decorating Victorian wall tiles. The design was printed onto tissue paper, which was placed colour side down onto the tile. The colour was transferred by rubbing it down, and the paper removed.
The skills involved in decorating were greater than those for making the tile body as the chemical changes of glazes and colours was uncertain during firing