This is most interesting from a design
viewpoint but the colours are unusual too. The
design is a fusion of several preceding styles
that vied for the attention in the years
preceding art nouveau. Clearly classical
elements, that filling of the surface with
wallpaper-like designs that epitomises arts
& crafts floral, and for sure some of the
more abstract lines and symmetry that suggest
art nouveau. The bluish green print is uncommon,
the burgundy underglaze rare indeed this design
in almost invaribly seen in plain, uncoloured
print, the combination of the two very
different.
Likely Boote or whoever created the
decoration were taking inspiration from a
popular Mintons tile, used for the inside covers
of the first serious book on 19thC tiles,
Victorian Ceramic Tiles by Julien Barnard. The
design was registered in 1898 and so we have
dated this shortly afterwards and we have an
example here.
On a T & R Boote blank, far from certain
that they decorated it for they sold biscuit
widely including to known printers such as The
Decorative Art Tile Co and Stubbs & Hodgart.
Versos perfectly clean embossed England.