CASTLES AND CLAY: DECORATIVE TILES IN CALIFORNIA ARCHITECTURE
Gold may be its most famous product, but California’s rich earth produced another treasure: the colorful, beautiful, endlessly inventive decorative tiles that have enlivened commercial buildings, castles and cottages in the state since the Craftsman era at the dawn of the 20th century. California has been one of the country’s leading producers of architectural tiles and they reflect the variety and color of the state’s ample deposits of clay, as well as responding to changing artistic, cultural, and social trends. Tilemakers can be found all over the state – from Hearst Castle to the Norton Simon Museum, from Bullock’s Wilshire to the house down the street, California tiles were, and are, everywhere.
Image: Julia Morgan for California Faience, “Seahorse” bedroom floor tile, Hearst Castle, 1922.
Additional Details
Institution or Organization name - American Decorative Arts Forum
