Rebecca Pocai on wed 3 mar 04
I have been reading a book on the history of American
Art Tile. In one section it mentions J & J.G. Low Art
Tile Works "products were relief tiles made
mechanically by the dust method."
Can anyone elaborate on what this is. The book I'm
reading has no futher explaination.
Thanks,
Rebecca Pocai
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Randy O'Brien on thu 4 mar 04
Hi Rebecca,
I think they are referring to dry pressing. The dry materials are
agglomerated into 50 - 100 micron particles, often using organic binders,
and then pressed into a mold.
Randy O'Brien
Tucson, AZ
http://www.dakotacom.net/~rdobrien
> I have been reading a book on the history of American
> Art Tile. In one section it mentions J & J.G. Low Art
> Tile Works "products were relief tiles made
> mechanically by the dust method."
> Can anyone elaborate on what this is. The book I'm
> reading has no futher explaination.
>
> Thanks,
> Rebecca Pocai
Paul Lewing on thu 4 mar 04
on 3/3/04 2:19 PM, Rebecca Pocai at mudyfoot@YAHOO.COM wrote:
> "products were relief tiles made
> mechanically by the dust method."
> Can anyone elaborate on what this is. The book I'm
> reading has no futher explaination.
This is a process that dates back to the Industrial Revolution, when people
started making encaustic floor tiles. It was a huge improvement because the
color went all the way through, and so would never wear off. Colored clay
was mixed as a powder, with very little water content- less that leather
hard clay, and poured or scooped into a hole in a die. Typically, a series
of dies was used to make a complex pattern, starting with the center and
working outward. Usually a press with an overhead flywheel was the
mechanism that packed the clay into the mold.
So first a mold holder was fixed into the press, then the first die (dies
were usually cast iron for this process, as plaster would break undre the
pressure) was laid into the holder. This first die might have a small hole
in the middle, which was filled with (let's say) white clay. The worker
would then spin the flywheel enough to lightly pack the clay into the hole.
This die was then lifted off, and the next die, which had a hole that
surrounded the little column of white clay and left a gap around it, was
dropped in, that hole filled with a contrasting color, and tamped again.
This operation continued till the whole pattern was filled in. Then the
flywheel was spun as hard as possible and the whole thing hit with a
tremendous amount of pressure, to consolidate the tile into a solid tile.
This sounds slow and inefficient, but these guys were said to really be fast
at this. Originally, one guy would fill the dies and the other would spin
the wheel, but inevitably the timing would get off, and the guy filling
holes would lose a hand. It slowed them down, but they had to go to one guy
doing all the steps.
Most commercial wall tile is made this way today, although they use
hydraulic presses, and very I haven't seen any tile with a pattern in it
that looks like it was made this way in a long time. But you see a lot of
porcelain tile these days that looks like stone, and most of it's made this
way. By taking chunks rather than dust, they can duplicate granite
remarkably well.
Paul Lewing, Seattle
The Chapel of Art on fri 5 mar 04
It is a manufacturing process which is "simply" compressing dry
clay (also known as "dust" clay) into shapes under high pressure.
The process was originally invented by one Richard Posser from
Birmingham (the original town in England!) for the manufacture of
clay buttons and was patented in June 1840. However Herbert
Minton saw the process had far greater potential for tile making.
It was a very simple idea too... Just compressing the clay dust
between two metal dies. In this way the object at hand was
perfectly formed and ready for firing in a couple of seconds!
Minton bought a share of the patent and went into production just
two months later (August 1840).
Now Minton had been working on perfecting tile making,
specifically encaustic tiles for a very long time indeed. The art
had been lost for over 300 hundred years, following the
dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. So although
this new process was not the answer to the technical problems
which were proving very difficult to solve using plastic clay, it
opened up a whole new world in tile making and fashion.
Apparently they had seven presses to start production. One
producing tiles and the other six smaller presses for making
buttons and tesserae for mosaic floors. By 1842 the were over 60
presses in operation and the process was causing great excitement
because wall tiles could be made by "mass production" methods for
the first time. It was presented at the Society of Arts in London
in 1843 and consequently to Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's
consort at a soire=E9 held by the Marquess of Northampton`s.
Albert apparently took so much interest in the process, that "Mr
Posser and Mr Minton decided that a description of the process
and a drawing of the press, as then seen at work, should be
prepared forthwith and presented to his Highness, which was done
and presented 15th March 1843".
Now not only did that event mean Minton & Posser could introduce
the product to some of the most influential men in the country,
this was a sort of marketing break-through for them, because if
Prince Albert praised a product and it was witnessed by the
movers and shaker, it was a jump start for any entrepreneur of
the time. Albert was not only a supreme trend setter, the day he
was shown this new process, there were also a number of foreign
dignitaries present...
This (and no doubt other) sort of display and the interest in
new, innovative products and methods of manufacture must have
inspired Albert to propose holding the first Great Exhibition,
which was held in 1851. Although there were more French than
British winners at that event, the Brits soon caught up as the
list of medals later won proves.
For example in a Maw & Co catalogue it is proudly announced that
the firm won medals in London 1862, 1874; Oporto 1865; Dublin
1865; Paris 1867, 1889; Philadelphia 1876; Melbourne 1880, 1888;
and more than 20 others. I now quote Julian Barnard, in Victorian
Ceramic Tiles (ISBN 0 289 70251 8) verbatim:
"The importance of such recognition is best seen in the case of
the American tile company ofJ G Low. Greatly impressed by the
tiles at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition 1876, Mr John Low
decided to set up his own factory. After just over a year he was
competing directly with English firms at an exhibition in Crewe,
Cheshire, and he won the gold medal, establishing his company as
one of the foremost tile producers in the world".
Barnard goes on to say that there was a lot of published material
available at the time, with periodicals fostering a popular
interest in art, design and decoration known as the Art Movement.
Magazines like "The Builder" had been enthusiastic about tiles
for year, but "more ephemeral publication such as "The Decorator
and Furnisher" (New York 1882-98) brought the gospel of
aestheticism to the public and were an important vehicle for
advertising "art tiles".
Hummm... Probably more information than you wanted, but there you
go... Full answer, including the direct link to Low's... Not too
bad, eh?
Sincerely
Janet Kaiser
*** IN REPLY TO THE FOLLOWING MAIL:
>I have been reading a book on the history of American
>Art Tile. In one section it mentions J & J.G. Low Art
>Tile Works "products were relief tiles made
>mechanically by the dust method."
>Can anyone elaborate on what this is.
*** THE MAIL FROM Rebecca Pocai ENDS HERE ***
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8 Marine Crescent : Criccieth : Wales : UK
Home of The International Potters' Path
Tel: ++44 (01766) 523570 http://www.the-coa.org.uk
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