De Ferranti’s Arts and Crafts style ruby lustre animal tiles are replicas of William De Morgan’s decorative tiles. The animal images were De Morgan’s own designs, partly inspired by medieval manuscripts and partly drawn from his imagination, while the flower patterns were adapted from designs by William Morris. Lustre decoration was widely used in Islamic pottery and reinvented for ceramic tiles by De Morgan. The lustres have a shimmering, iridescent metallic surface.

Ruby lustre animal tiles and De Morgan’s bestiary

The principal composition brings together stylised birds, beasts, fish, serpents and ships in ruby red against pale ceramic grounds. Each square design is complete in itself, yet the repeated colour and foliage allow different subjects to form a coherent panel. The creatures range from recognisable animals to fantastical hybrids, giving the series the wit and strangeness associated with De Morgan’s decorative imagination.

The series is attributed in De Ferranti’s archive to the late ceramicist Marjory Clinton. Its reflective surface relates naturally to De Ferranti’s Reduction Lustre Glazed Tiles, while the manuscript-like animals offer a useful dialogue with the Medieval Heraldic & Bestiary Tiles collection.

Planning a decorative lustre installation

These ruby lustre animal tiles may be used individually, arranged in selected groups or composed as a larger decorative field. They are particularly effective on fireplace surrounds, kitchen splashbacks, bathroom walls, framed panels and interior niches, where the imagery can be examined closely.

Review samples under the project’s natural and artificial lighting before confirming the layout. The metallic effect changes with the viewing angle, so the arrangement, adjacent finishes and grout colour should be assessed together. A pale grout maintains separation between motifs, while a closer tonal choice allows the group to read more continuously. Set out the subjects before installation to balance directional creatures, ships, foliage and denser motifs across the surface.

Project Guidance and Enquiries

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