Henry C. Mercer (Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1856 - 1930, Doylestown, Pennsylvania)
Castle Acre Tiles: English Quarry Blank, 1901
Glazed ceramic, 4 x 4 in. (10.2 x 10.2 cm)
This is a square glazed ceramic tile. It has no designs but a varied coloration, mostly shades of blue and blue gray, but also splotches of clay-colored red at the left and right edges.
Main Entrance Passage And Lobby
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner oversaw all the details of the Museum during its design and construction, 1899–1902. She collaborated with the tile maker and owner of the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, Henry Chapman Mercer, on the galleries’ custom floors. Ceramicists and trained laborers produced Mercer’s unique designs by molding tiles from handmade casts and applying slips and glazes for firing. His earliest notable series, Castle Acre, drew inspiration from medieval tiles in Europe and can be seen throughout the Gardner Museum.