Letter and Instructions for Oiling Brick to Isabella Stewart Gardner from Florence

Isabella Stewart Gardner collaborated with the tile maker and owner of the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works, Henry Chapman Mercer, on the Museum's 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. 

Isabella’s vision for the floors included shine. In this letter, Mercer wrote detailed instructions on how to maintain the tiles after observing the oiling practices at the Museo Nazionale—modern day Museo Nazionale del Bargello—in Florence, Italy.