Hand Made Tiles - Impressions
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We have hand made
the Impressions range for nearly 20 years, and it has proved to be
a tile that can truly be called an “English Classic”.
Glazed in white or cream, they remain one of the simplest,
yet most appealing of all our designs, creating a style
and simplicity which is the ideal foil to any interior
scheme.
Choose from our Impressions Catalogue |
Impressions Hand made relief
ware
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Terracotta Plaques
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Provencal Birds
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Sixpence Birds
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Fruits de Mer
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Botanical
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Waterlands
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How we hand make the
Impressions range
Each of our hand made Impressions relief
ware starts
life as an individually handmade and sculpted tile
from which master moulds are taken. From these
masters, pressing moulds are made into which terracotta
clay is hand pressed to make each tile. After “biscuit” firing,
each tile is hand dipped with a generous coat of
glaze, and then re-fired to over 1050ºC. |
Move
The master
relief is carved in clay. From
this a master mould is made.
Each master
clay relief takes at least
2 days to hand carve.
The clay
is prepared for pressing by
wedging the air out of it.
We use a red earthernware body
from Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire.
The clay
is prepared for pressing by
wedging the air out of it.
We use a red earthernware body
from Stoke on Trent in Staffordshire.
Slices
of clay are made to be pressed
into the moulds to make each
tile.
Slices
of clay are made to be pressed
into the moulds to make each
tile.
Drawing
off the excess clay from its
mould
Each tile
is released from its mould
by hand
The pressed
tiles are left to dry thoroughly
until they retain no physical
water.
The drying
cycle can take between 3 days
and a week depending on the
weather!
The drying
cycle can take between 3 days
and a week depending on the
weather!
The tiles
are loaded into the kiln for
their bisque firing.
The bisque
firing turns the 'green' clay
into terracotta bisque. The
firing takes aproximately 12
hours.
The tiles
are unloaded from the kiln
- now terracotta.
The tiles
are sorted to be glazed in
either a white or cream glaze.
Each tile
receives a generous coating
of glaze
Getting
the correct amount of glaze
onto each tile is an art!
Each tile
is loaded into a tile setter
- more commonly known as a
'tile crank'.
The filled
cranks are loaded carefully
into the kiln for their second
firing.
The finished
glazed tile. The forms are
accentuated by the subtle glaze
fall-off on the edge of the
relief.
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We've expanded out Tile Mat gift range to include five new designs. Click here to see more...
We exhibited in Osaka, Japan in the Autumn last year. See how we got on
Our new Economy Collection - great spiced up with any of our mosaics or borders
We've been making the Impressions range for 20 years - our slide show takes you through the making process.
Thanks
for dispatching the tiles; I don't know how far you usually send them
and with what success rate, but they arrived 100% unbroken in Zambia. 