Border Tile 1881 - 1885

This border tile was created by J. and J. G. Low Art Tile Works. It presents four stylized flowers set against a neutral ground, framed by textured borders. The monochromatic palette emphasizes the form and the structure of the tile, inviting a closer look at the relationships between its constituent parts. The repetition of the floral motif calls attention to the tile’s modularity, its capacity to be endlessly duplicated and extended. The stylized flowers, evenly spaced, suggest a semiotic system, where each flower acts as a sign within a larger decorative language. Yet, the very regularity of the pattern also hints at the dissolution of meaning. The cracks in the glaze create a network of lines, disrupting the surface and introducing an element of chance into the otherwise ordered design. In examining its formal properties, it is clear the tile destabilizes the conventional relationship between decoration and structure. It operates as a system of signs, where form dictates content and where aesthetic experience lies not in the individual components, but in their structured arrangement.