Lot 20: HALSEY RICARDO FOR WILLIAM DE MORGAN AN IMPORTANT PAIR OF LARGE PAINTED TILE PANELS 1890'S

each painted with a formalised garden centred by a fountain or a statue, one incorporating the inscription, ALIENIS MENSIBUS AESTAS, the other, HIC VER PERPETUUM ATQUE

122cm. by 50cm.;<br><br>48in. by 19 3/4 in.

The design for these panels is illustrated by Richard Dennis and William Wiltshire, The Designs of William de Morgan, Shepton Beauchamp, 1989, plate 349. This design is reproduced here courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, (E1643). It is one of over 2000 designs by de Morgan held by the museum. These were a gift from Evelyn de Morgan in 1917. Halsey Ricardo divided his own designs from those of William de Morgan and they are catalogued under acession nos. E1636 - 1677 - 1917.

These tile panels were originally installed at Paxhill, an Elizabethan house built by Ninian Boord (d.1606). The house remained in the same family until the 19th century when it passed through several owners until William Sturdy bought it in 1877. He improved the south wing, adding the large drawing room and the library which still houses a de Morgan tiled fireplace. It is though that it was during this period of improvement that these panels would have arrived at Paxhill. Hopper heads on the drainpipes in this area of the house are dated 1889 which would certainly tie in with Halsey Ricardo's partnership with de Morgan.

Having worked initially for Morris & Co., William de Morgan established his own pottery in Chelsea in the early 1870's and moved to larger premises at Merton Abbey in 1882. Ill health precipitated the next move, to Sand's End in 1888 and it was here that the partnership with Halsey Ricardo began.

Halsey Ricardo (1854 - 1928) was born in Bath and educated at Rugby. He served his articles in Cheltenham and then worked for Basil Champneys before starting his own practice in 1881. He was a leading member of the arts and crafts movement and encouraged the use of coloured tiles on buildings - both internally and externally.

The Latin inscriptions on these tiles read, 'summer all the year' and 'tis here eternal spring'. This is a slight misquote of Virgil's second Georgic, line 149: 'Hic ver adsiduum atque alienis mensibus aestas'