These handmade ceramic tiles were dropped off some time ago by an art teacher who was clearing out his studio for retirement. Exciting work ahead for him, and he’d had enough of these. He acquired them from an elderly artist, or perhaps her estate sale. She made them, sold them, and had kept this lot for quite some time herself, he said. Murky milestones, but perhaps that dates the tiles to the 1950s or 1960s in the Mid-Atlantic region.
The design is definitely mid-century, with a stylized sans-serif font that gains texture and luminosity when fired into a durable glazed ceramic tile. All caps, hand-stamped alphabet and numerals, each one a different take on patterns and colors like burlap or verdigris. I suspect some are test tiles and off-casts, and nicer now somehow.
All told, the collection includes about twelve different sets. The most complete series is a light terracotta color, four inches high, with white letters and lovely ochre and rust hatch marks. Maddeningly, it has no Es.
No set is complete. Many letters and numbers have duplicates. I have a tub of tiny fives. Did I get lucky, or what?
Long ago, at my first proper internship, I left a neatly-labeled file drawer as my lasting contribution to a small staff that was kind enough to lend me a chair one seething summer in Phoenix. All the tri-fold pamphlets from Arizona’s cultural outposts organized alphabetically. Grant-funded evidence for them, and a solid list of road trips for a budding wanderer like me. I was in it for the index.
I’m not sure this collection will take me on a mad search for their maker. The details I have are plausible, if not plentiful, and I’m more interested in where the tiles will go from here. They have been for sale in a friend’s real-life boutique. Released, out wild again in the Chesapeake.
The remainder set is now back with me, photographed, boxed, and labeled for easy retrieval. Soon, I’ll have an image database to search and sort, and my own online shop. A summer project that will serve the postcard collections, too.
But first, some fun. The smaller sizes feel like runes, very satisfying to hold and shuffle. Yes, I spelled out several unmentionable words and phrases. The numbers 4 and 8 are my favorite designs, and who can resist Q words? Help me, indeed!
For those who want to start diagramming right now, here are the first two sets. Send me a note if you need a specific combination immediately. I know just where to find them.
The Posted Past 