OH_Zanesville--American Encaustic Tiling Company Showroom

AMERICAN ENCAUSTIC TILING COMPANY SHOWROOM--ZANESVILLE, OH

(Lost)

Title of Installation:

American Encaustic Tiling Company Showroom

Materials Used:

Ceramic tiles

General Description:

At one time the American Encaustic Tiling Company (c. 1877-c. 1935) of Zanesville, OH was the largest tile producing company in the United States. AET had a showroom on the third floor of the Administration Building in its complex according to Zanesville tile historian Michael Sims.

The showroom had a patterned tile floor, tiled windows and radiator grilles, a stage to display tiles for customers, and a fountain designed by Lois and Frederick Hurten Rhead. Two other AET designers are pictured below: Frank Northrup and Karl Bergman.¹

Year Created or installed:

Does Installation Still Exist?

No

If Not, What Happened?

The U.S. Army used the AET plant during World War II and, according to Mr. Sims, dismantled the showroom.

State:

Ohio

City:

Zanesville

Additional Information, Websites, Citations:

¹Evan and Louise Purviance, Zanesville Art Tile in Color, Wallace-Homestead Book Co., Des Moines, IA, 1972. (B&W photos, below, and the color grille photo, taken from this book)

²E. Stanley Wires, Norris F. Schneider, Moses Mesre, Zanesville Decorative Tiles, Self-published, Zanesville, Ohio, 1972, p. 32.

Karl Bergman (1889-1955) was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Brussels, Belgium. He worked for the Mosaic Tile Company, then the American Encaustic Tiling Company in Zanesville. Afterward Bergman started his own tile company, the Continental Faience and Tile Company, in Milwaukee, WI. (Purviance)

Harry Northrup worked at the Zanesville Art Pottery and then the Mosaic Tile Company until he served in the Armed Forces in World War I. After the war he became the head of glazing formulas, casting, and then decorating until 1935. (Purviance)

Submitted by and Year:

Zanesville local historian Michael Sims; November 2010.

Part of the ex-AET Factory in 2010.

(Photo by Michael Padwee)