Cluny Tiles: Little Maltese Cross
designer
Henry C. Mercer
(Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1856 - 1930, Doylestown, Pennsylvania)
manufacturer
Moravian Pottery and Tile Works
(established Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1898)
Date1901
Place MadeDoylestown, Pennsylvania, United States, North America
MediumGlazed ceramic
Dimensions4 x 4 in. (10.2 x 10.2 cm)
ClassificationsArchitectural Elements
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberC2c1.7
eMuseum ID728918
Previous NumberC2c2.a
EmbARK ObjectID26564
Other NumberMC405
TMS Source ID10259
Last Updated10/5/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryIsabella 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 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania produced Mercer’s unique designs by molding tiles from handmade casts and applying slips and glazes for firing.
BibliographyNotesGilbert Wendell Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935) p. 87. (as made by Henry Chapman Mercer of Doylestown, Pennsylvania)
Christina Nielsen et. al. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: A Guide (New Haven, 2017), p. 67, ill.
Maggie Goldstein, "Henry Mercer's Moravian Pottery and Tile Works at Fenway Court," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 23 January 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/henry-mercers-moravian-pottery-and-tile-works-fenway-court
Christina Nielsen et. al. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: A Guide (New Haven, 2017), p. 67, ill.
Maggie Goldstein, "Henry Mercer's Moravian Pottery and Tile Works at Fenway Court," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 23 January 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/henry-mercers-moravian-pottery-and-tile-works-fenway-court
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner from the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, Doylestown, Pennsylvania on 9 December 1901 for $551 (for about 4,000 tiles)
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