These tiles were our first commission for 2025. A customer near the Brecon Beacons in Wales gave me a list of some of the fauna and flora in and around their garden and asked me to design something for their bathroom. They are very pleased with the final result and immediately came back for some kitchen tiles too. The tree features fruits and a few leaves from various trees and bushes in their garden, as well as some of their insects. The birds and animals were also all specified.
Also there were a few birds of prey dotted around the other walls, and a small panel of one of their views above the sink.
Here are a few of the tiles that went in the kitchen. A mix of some 10 cm Delft tiles we had in stock, and some Coffee and Little bird tiles painted especially.
This is a good example of the process of commissioning a hand painted tile panel.
We have just completed our 7th large scale Chinoiserie panel, this time for a bathroom in Cornwall. The tiles are being installed behind the bath. The clients wanted it based on the first Chinoiserie panel we painted:
Chinoiserie bathroom
Our starting point was getting the measurements and specific design requirements, then we sent out colour tile samples and a full colour design (this is included in the price for large tile panels). They chose to have their panel painted onto machine made 152 x 152 x 7 mm tiles.
Tile panel design
Colour tile samples
Lemons were included to mirror some of the fabric being used in the bathroom and adjoining room. Suitable yellows had to be chosen so the lemons stood out against the background. The flowers were also loosely based on the floral fabric, and transformed into magnolias and peonies. The client also wanted some butterflies – a particular favourite of ours, so we based them on the butterflies found in Cornwall: Silver Studded Blue, Brown Argus, Dingy Skipper and Grizzled Skipper, as well as more widespread butterflies such as Fritillary, Red Admiral, Tortoiseshell, and Peacock.
Below are some pictures of the panel laid out on the table during painting:
Tiles in progress
The tiles are all numbered on the back before painting and carefully loaded in order. They are stacked in the kiln in order and then fired to 1060º Centigrade. Once cooled (the whole process takes about 36 hours for a full kiln) the tiles are all painted with the yellow background colour again – this gives a softer and richer yellow and makes a huge difference to the finished look. The tiles are then fired to 1060º again. (Colours other than yellow can be used for the background, or sometimes all the colour is in the birds, flowers and butterflies, and the background is left white).
Once out of the kiln they are carefully laid out in sections on the table and numbered again more clearly.
Some butterfly close ups:
We pack our tiles extremely thoroughly in order, with the numbers of the tiles marked on each box. We also enclose a photo of the whole panel and another numbered picture of the whole tile panel. We like to make things as easy as possible for the tiler. We are also responsible for any tiles broken in transit – an extreme rarity as we pack them so thoroughly.
Here are the tiles in situ:
Wall of Chinoiserie tiles in a Cornish bathroom. Photograph by @philipraymondphotography
WE are slowly getting back to normal after a great time at Handmade at Kew, held in Kew Gardens in London. Lots of sales and plenty of interest, so we are hoping to get some Chinoiserie commissions from it. Our dearest wish is to be able to tile a whole room one day! The next show we are doing is Made By Hand in Cardiff City Hall 2 – 4th November 2018.
We have had a couple of commissions this year for full colour wild flower tiles – I think these will be much more popular than the monochrome versions.
Another bit of publicity for one of the best jobs we’ve done – a Chinoiserie bathroom tile panel.
It would look equally great with a turquoise background and perhaps a few birds in it….
Reptile Tiles 