(c) 2018 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Arrangement of Bricks and Moravian Tiles

artist Henry C. Mercer (Doylestown, Pennsylvania, 1856 - 1930, Doylestown, Pennsylvania)

Dateabout 1914

Place MadeDoylestown, Pennsylvania, United States, North America

MediumCrayon rubbing on paper with inscription in graphite

ClassificationsDrawings

Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Accession numberARC.009074

eMuseum ID723868

EmbARK ObjectID34758

TMS Source ID18214

Last Updated8/9/24

Status

Not on view

Web 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. Mercer sent this sketch to Isabella to propose a layout for the tiles in the Tapestry Room. Ultimately, Isabella chose a simpler arrangement.

BibliographyNotesMaggie 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

MarksNotesInscribed in pencil (recto, lower middle): Arrangment (sic) of 4" x 8" Bricks / with 2" x 2" Moravian Tiles -

ProvenanceNotesProbably a gift from the American archaeologist, collector, and tilemaker Henry C. Mercer (1856-1930) to Isabella Stewart Gardner, 1914.