A Group of Ten French Relief Tiles Decorated with Profile Portraits

A Group of Ten French Relief Tiles Decorated with Profile Portraits, a Bird and a Coat-of-Arms Depicting a Fortress with Three Towers
Un-glazed Terracotta
France
15th /16th Century

SIZE: 16.5cm high, 12.5cm wide, 2cm deep - 6½ ins high, 5 ins wide, ¾ deep (min) 20.5cm high, 15cm wide, 2.5cm deep - 8 ins high, 5??? ins wide, 1 ins deep (max)

PROVENANCE: Rieunier & Associes, Sale: Tableaux Anciens et Modernes Mobilier, 14th March 2005, lot 65

CF: For a similar grouping see: Christies, New York, The Decorative Arts Sale, 3rd April, 2012, lot 157, Tiles from the J.W.N. Van Achterbergh (1928 - 2009) Collection

LITERATURE: Lane, Arthur, A Guide to the Collection of Tiles, London 1960 (2nd ed.) pg. 44, plate 25, D and E

Our tiles can be compared to very similar examples in the Boymanns-van- Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, which share the same geometrical form and relief decoration with heads in profile. The Boymanns tiles, according to the description in Anne Berendsen’s book on tiles (1964) are of French origin and have been dated to the 12th century. It is very likely that our tiles are from the same region. Due to the stylistic elements in the portrayal of the facial features, hairstyles and headdresses, some of the portraits would appear to have been produced in the 15th century while others probably date from the 16th century. Given that there are many points of similarity between the images on our tiles and those in the Boymanns collection, it seems probable that the dating of the aforementioned is therefore too early.