Encaustic tiles are
ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the
glaze but of different colors of
clay. They are usually of two colors but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern is inlaid into the body of the tile, so as the tile is worn down the design remains. Encaustic tiles may be glazed or unglazed and the inlay may be as shallow as an eighth of an inch, as is often the case with "printed" encaustic tile from the later
medieval period, or as deep as a quarter inch.
What were called encaustic tiles in the
Victorian era were originally called inlaid tiles during the medieval period. The use of the word "encaustic" to describe an inlaid tile of two or more colors is technically incorrect. The word encaustic means "burning in" from the Greek
en "in" and
kaiein "to burn". The term originally described a process of painting with a
beeswax-based paint that was then fixed with heat. It was also applied to a process of medieval enameling. The term did not come into use when describing tile until the 19th century. Supposedly, Victorians thought that the two color tiles strongly resembled enamel work and so called them encaustic. Despite the error, the term has now been in common use for so long that it is an accepted name for inlaid tile work.
Encaustic or inlaid tiles enjoyed two periods of great popularity. The first came in the
13th century and lasted until
Henry the Eighth's reformation in the
16th century. These tiles caught the attention of craftsmen during the
Gothic Revival who, after much trial and error mass-produced these tiles, making them available to the general public. During both periods tiles were made across Western Europe though the center of tile production was
England. Companies in the
United States also made encaustic tile during the Gothic Revival. The American Encaustic Tiling Company of
Zanesville, Ohio, was active until the 1930s.
In both medieval times and in the 19th Century Gothic Revival, tiles were most often made for and laid in churches. Even tiles that were laid in private homes were often copies of those found in religious settings. Encaustic tile floors exist all over Europe and the United States but are most prevalent in England where the greatest numbers of inlaid tiles were made.
hope that explains a bit better......
