Style: Figural
Technique: Émaux ombrants
Designer: George Cartlidge
Manufacturer: Sherwin & Cotton
Dimensions: 6" x 12" each tile
Date: circa 1900
A rare and superb pair of tiles modelled by
the famous sculptor and designer George
Cartlidge. Featuring the excellent subjects of
classical musicians, a violinist and a flautist.
In superb condition and of excellent manufacture
and signed with the artist's monogram an
interlocking G & C.
Glaze pooling can be distracting with the
highly translucent glazes used but these pair
have just a little pooling along one edge which
is hardly noticable. Raised relief is very
slight, most of the detail is achieved by
impressed moulding into the body of the tile
also known as intaglio. The glaze colour is a
wonderful honey brown which shows the detail
superbly.
Émaux Ombrants is a truly difficult
technique to manufacture, a literal (as
possible) translation of the french gives a good
clue to the complexity; "enamel shadows". Like
majolica and other glazing techniques it uses
the transparency of glazes to produce its effect
but it is the negative transparency, the
shadows, that define Émaux Ombrants. The
glazes had to be highly translucent but rich in
colour to give intensity and depth where pooled,
and also had to be self levelling. The best use
for the technique is images of nature; portraits
and plants, the superior moulding and glazing
gives the vision of lifelike shadows behind the
subject. Unlike majolica tiles the glaze surface
of an Émaux Ombrants tile is almost flat,
not embossed. The effect therefore is almost
magical, the surface is smooth and almost flat
but the image is crisp and has great depth,
rather like a modern day holograph. It is a
truly inspiring technique.
These are quite the best pair of Émaux
Ombrants by George Cartlidge we have seen for a
long while. Not the somber politicians and
military men in dark, somber glazes albeit they
are outstanding works of art. Here the subjects
are happy in their work, the glaze is warm and
appealing, the manufacturing quality and
condition is excellent. The detail is fantastic,
even the bottom string on the violin is
depressed where touched by the bow.
Versos embossed indistinctly Sherwin &
Cotton and pattern numbers. Some light glue
residue, these have never been installed but the
glue probably held the backing paper for the
picture frames.
Condition: Near perfect
Price: £750 (approx $937)
Ref: 01781/2
