Specialist Fireplace Tiles Now Available

We’re happy to announce that we are now offering fantastic ‘Specialist Tiles‘ which are based on the distinctive styles of William De Morgan, William Morris, and Philip Webb. From floral to animal designs, we’ve got you covered.

Our Specialist Fireplace Tiles are usually available in multiple versions and colours for you to choose from. You can mix and match to make a really fantastic set of tiles for your Fireplace Insert, or wall. We’ve detailed below backgrounds on our specialists:

William De Morgan

William De Morgan (1839-1917) was one of the most famous designers of tiles from the Arts and Crafts Movement, of which he was a founder member. He painted in a Pre-Raphaelite style, designed stained glass and became a novelist.

He began his career as a stained glass designer, and only later became a potter, supplying William Morris from his home in Chelsea, London. He then moved to a pottery works to Merton in 1881/2 and then to Fulham in 1886. He married Evelyn Pickering, the Pre-Raphaelite painter, in 1887.

During the Fulham period De Morgan experimented with glazes and rediscovered methods of making the intense greens and blues used in Majolica wares. He used these techniques in his own designs and became famous for his complex lusters and deep, intense underglaze painting. In 1907 William De Morgan left the pottery works and continued his life as a successful novelist.

William Morris

William Morris (1834-1896) was the son of a successful businessman, born on 24th March 1834 in Walthamstow a small village to the east of London. Morris was educated at Marlborough and Exeter College, Oxford. Later he formed, Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co.

They specialised in stained glass, carvings, furniture, wallpaper, carpets and tapestries. The company’s designs brought about a complete revolution. Their commissions included the Red House in Upton (1859), the Armory and Tapestry Room at St. James’s Palace (1866) and the dinning room in the Victoria and Albert Museum (1867).

In 1875 the business partnership came to an end and William Morris formed a new business, Morris and Company. In addition to his commissions, William Morris found time to write poetry and prose and devoted a lot of time to political writing.

Philip Webb

Philip Speakman Webb (1831-1915) was born in Oxford. He was a Pre-Raphaelite architect and designer and sometimes referred to as the ‘father of Arts and Crafts architecture’. He studied at Aynho in Northamptonshire and was then articled to builder-architects in Wolverhampton and Reading.

Later he moved to London where he eventually became a junior assistant to G. E. Street. In 1859 Morris commissioned Webb to design his home the ‘Red House’. As part of this project he designed six bird tile designs which can be found within the tile section of this website. In 1861 he became a founder member of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. for whom he helped design church furnishings, embroideries and drawings for printed textiles.

Click here to go browse the tiles we currently have available. We will be adding more over the next few weeks to be sure to check back from time to time.