Floor tile
The potters of Barnstaple, Bideford and Great Torrington made these distinctive tiles for use in churches, inns and higher status houses. They were made in wooden moulds and these moulds cracked over time, hence the line running horizontally across this tile.
The decoration on this tile is interesting, it appears to show a person with a feathered headdress and a forked tongue. This figure may well be a depiction of what a North Devon potter thought an Indigenous American looked like. At this period the Devon ports were supplying America with many goods including pottery and so interest in the ‘New World’ was high.
The decoration on this tile is interesting, it appears to show a person with a feathered headdress and a forked tongue. This figure may well be a depiction of what a North Devon potter thought an Indigenous American looked like. At this period the Devon ports were supplying America with many goods including pottery and so interest in the ‘New World’ was high.
Object Summary
- Accession Loan No.
- 70/1992/6
- Collection Class
- Architectural fragments
- Collection Area Region
- Northern Europe
- Material
- ceramic
- Common Name
- floor tile
- Simple Name
- floor tile
- Period Classification
- Stuart (1603-1714); Elizabethan (1558-1603); Post Medieval (1500-1750)
- Production Year Low
- 1600
- Production Year High
- 1700
