Franklin Pottery Co. (Lansdale, PA). Hand-made Tiles. A sweeping array of individual decorative tiles, borders, moldings, inserts, mantels, fountains and fixtures. Our Hand-made Tiles are not so lost in ultra-artistic thought as to be of passing mode in shape or design, or impractical in the long wearing qualities so rightfully expected of Tiles. 100 pages, c. 1930. Price: $20.
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Franklin Tile Co. (Lansdale, PA). Tiles with Color Schemes. Catalog No. 20. April 1936. The first half of the catalog includes color illustrations of the companys glazed wall tiles in color (Velvetones, Britetones, and Motletones) with corresponding floor tile combinations and trim offerings. Also the companys Large tiles with Ripple glazes are featured along with dust-pressed Grid Tile and numerous accessories. See also Olean Tiles made by the Olean Tile Company of Olean, New York, both the porcelain type and natural clay type in color. The second half of the catalog is devoted to Franklin Faience with faience glazes in color, floor and wall patterns, fountains, spouts, bowls, panels, inserts, borders, mantels, trim, and what seems like hundreds of individual decorative tiles. 140 pages. Price: $50 with color.
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Guide to the Patterns and Markings on the Backs of United States Ceramic Tiles 1870s-1930s by Michael Padwee, is a pioneering work on U.S. tile identification. Within its many pages are hundreds of illustrations of the backs of tiles produced by nearly 100 American companies, alphabetically listed. 160 pages. Price: $25.
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Grueby-Faience Co. (Boston, MA). This is a 1924 catalog of the C. Pardee Works (see C. Pardee Works below) bound together with an earlier catalog of the Grueby Faience Company of Boston. Covers many of the classic Grueby tile designs as well as mantels, panels, trim shapes, borders, and installation shots. 23 pages. Price: $10.
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Hermosa Tile by Gladding, McBean & Co. (Los Angeles, CA). Catalog 1-A. Abridged Edition. 1934. Here are wall and paver tile shapes and sizes, numerous trimmers, and two full pages of decorative patterns on field tiles, strips and stretchers. 25 pages. Price: $10.
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A. E. Hull Pottery Co. (Crooksville, OH). Hull Pottery. A must for any collector, this catalog contains 40 pages of individual decorative tiles, inserts, trim shapes, strips, grilles, panels and accessories. 1931. Price: $15.
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A. E. Hull Pottery Co. (Crooksville, OH). Tile. On the 20 pages of this catalog are illustrations of fourteen mantel designs, sixteen arch designs and a variety of decorative inserts, strips and grilles. These designs are reproductions of actual working drawings to scale. Dimensions included. Undated. Price: $10.
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Kraftile Company (San Francisco, CA). High-Fired Faience Tiles. 42 pages, 5 of which include illustrated decorative tile designs plus numerous installation illustrations and descriptive copy. In Kraftile it is our privilege to offer a faience tile of rarely beautiful colorings and texture, outstandingly economical, and with greater durability than any other tile yet produced. Circa 1930. Price: $45 with color.
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Lester, Katherine Morris. Clay Work: A Handbook for Teachers. Here is a comprehensive, how-to, step-by-step manual on pottery and tile making with well-illustrated examples. Features studies of natural forms, figures, and animal forms. Price: $15.
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Los Angeles Pressed Brick Co. (Los Angeles, CA). A treat for historians and collectors alike, this 48-page catalog illustrates a number of faience tiles and full mantels from one of the earliest companies to make tiles in Southern California. Fourth Edition, 1917. Newly upgraded in '06. Price: $18.
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Low Art Tile Works (Chelsea, MA). Lows Art Tile. A professional 3-color reproduction of the largest and most complete catalog produced by the J.G. and J.F. Low Art Tile Works. The 30 interior pages contain over 20 plates featuring hundreds of Low art tiles, from portraits and florals to full fireplace surrounds. 1887. Price: $35. (No member discounts.)
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Malibu Potteries (Malibu, CA). "Decorative Floor & Wall Tile" is the larger of two catalogs published by this company that operated from 1926 to 1932. Its crammed full of tile designs, accessories, trim shapes, vents, and mantels. 60 pages. Newly upgraded in '08. Price: $22.
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Malibu Potteries (Malibu, CA). "Handbook of Decorative Tile" is a must for Malibu aficionados! The original catalog is approximately 4" x 7", loose-leaf, designed no doubt as a salesman's tool, something to leave in an architect's office. This particular copy, published in 1928 to show all tiles in stock, has been enlarged to an 8 1/2 x 11 format. Individual tile prices are written on all the pages. It has also been hand-paginated (1-107) with pages 79 through 99 missing. Unlike the catalog pictured in More About Malibu Potteries, only the first two pages are hand-colored; the rest are black and white. Featured are scores of Saracen and Moroccan tile designs and numerous other decoratives, borders, trim shapes, even tile table tops. New in '06. Price: $20.
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Marietta Mfg. Co. (Indianapolis, IN). Sani-Onyx for Your Walls. Sani-Onyx is literally made from melted rock, a modern-day material for walls, ceiling, wainscotingwherever you would commonly use the conventional materials, plaster, tile or marble. See numerous illustrations of period interiors, fixtures and furniture, many in color, that enrich this 120 page catalog. Bathroom, bedroom, parlor, hospital, barber shop, hotel, restaurant, soda fountain and meat market tile installations are all exhibited within. Price: $80 with color.
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Mizner Industries (West Palm Beach, FL). Once the only makers of hand made roof and floor tile in America, Addison Mizners Las Manos factory also produced pottery, period furniture, wrought iron, stain and leaded glass windows. Catch a glimpse in this abbreviated 7-page catalog that displays 18 examples of tile floor patterns and over 20 examples of beautiful solid walnut furniture, all illustrated in classic Mizner interiors. Price: $10.
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Moravian Pottery and Tile Works (Doylestown, PA). Moravian Tiles is a reprint of the 1913 sales catalog of the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works. The fourth and final sales catalog issued by the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works under Henry Mercer, it offers an array of decorative wall and pavement tiles, more than 320 individual tile designs. An informative introduction by Curator Vance A. Koehler is included. 20 pages. Price: $12. (No member discounts.)
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