NY_WESTCHESTER COUNTY--Tiled Room in Mansion

TILED ROOM IN MANSION--WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY

Partially Lost

Title of Installation:

At this time I cannot give the location or name of this mansion as it had been vandalized in the past.

General Description:

The open air, patio room with fireplace and roof, above, is tiled with Grueby faience tiles. Also some of the floors in the main part of the house are tiled with what look like Grueby faience tiles.

Materials Used/Technical Information (size, manufacturer, etc.):

The C. Pardee Tile Works of Perth Amboy, NJ purchased the Grueby Faience and Tile Company in 1919.¹ "Pardee continued to use the name 'Grueby-Faience' in advertising and catalogues, offering all the designs developed by Grueby...",² many of which were designed by Addison Le Boutillier. Since this mansion was built in the 1920s, the "Grueby-Faience" tiles used here were most probably manufactured by Pardee.

Year Created:

1920s

Year Installed, if different:

Does Installation Still Exist?

Partially.

If Not, What Happened?

Location of Installation:

Additional Information, Websites, Citations:

¹Helen Henderson, "Decorative and Architectural Tiles: The Artistic Legacy of Pardee," Style 1900, 8:2, 1995, 51-53.

The importance of William H. Grueby in the development of the Arts and Crafts pottery and tile industries in the United States can be seen in the following works:

²Susan J. Montgomery, The Ceramics of William H. Grueby, Arts & Crafts Quarterly Press, Lambertville, NJ, 1993, p. 90. This monograph is a "must read" for information about Grueby and his potteries and tile companies.

An article which identifies the "bird" tiles, below, as Grueby is: Richard D. Mohr, "Two Grueby Discoveries," Journal of the American Art Pottery Association, 14:4, July 1998, 16-17.

Another article by Richard Mohr documents Grueby's faience tilework by focusing on the exceptional tile murals in the Scranton, PA Lackawanna Railway Station, now a restaurant: "By its dedication on November 11, 1908, the palatial structure housed one of the most important art tile installations in America – a frieze that circles the waiting-room and consists of thirty-six murals composed of Grueby Faience tiles." (http://www.aapa.info/Portals/0/Lackawana.pdf)

Submitted by and Year:

Submitted by Michael Padwee (tileback101'at'collector.org) in March 2012.