# What do you think this painted tile depicts? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2024, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-this-painted-tile-depicts/1010043 "2024-11-10T20:32:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-this-painted-tile-depicts/1010043/61 "2024-11-12T16:22:35Z")
I’m going to say the cow with the weird face could have been painted at any time: > [@Ulfreida](#): > > The face is the kind of cow face people draw if they have never thought about what a cow face looks like (I’m artist with some experience watching people try to draw) This rings true to me. My guess is it was painted by some relatively new (or indifferent) worker at the factory when they were making tons of those tiles. Which also matches what the seller told the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-this-painted-tile-depicts/1010043/62 "2024-11-12T16:32:15Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > For tiles, specifically? You have a cite for that? > **['Delftware': tin-glazed earthenware tiles · V&A](https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/delftware-tiles?srsltid=AfmBOoo73itqyOY2BUl5vxp9Cy9GWQgtzFLYrekFThe9z6UpwKC3_pT_)** > > Discover our dazzling collection of in-glazed earthernware tiles, often known as 'delftware', from Britain and the Netherlands > Later in the 19th century, designers like William Morris (1834 – 96) and William De Morgan (1839 – 1917) revitalised interest in Dutch tiles. Morris used blue and white Dutch tiles to decorate areas in his home, Red House, in Bexleyheath. Morris and De Morgan also invested commercially in the Dutch tile market by buying in glazed and fired blank tiles from the Netherlands on which to produce their own designs. Please do note, though, that I have conceded argument on the point about the cow-faced tiles upthread being later than the Japanese Kudan. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-this-painted-tile-depicts/1010043/63 "2024-11-12T17:05:56Z")
I’m very familiar with the Arts&Crafts _majolica_ revival, but it tends to be polychrome repeat patterns, not the blue-on-white singular figurative stuff we’re discussing here. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2024, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-this-painted-tile-depicts/1010043/64 "2024-11-12T17:22:23Z")
I don’t think the blue on white ever really went away - [here’s](https://www.carters.com.au/index.cfm/item/1386700-fourteen-nursery-rhyme-tiles-in-the-blue-and-white-delft-style-a/) an example of tiles from the early 20th century, for example; [Here’s](https://www.lyonandturnbull.com/auctions/five-centuries-furniture-paintings-and-works-of-art-588/lot/465) a collection spanning 18th and early 19th; [here’s](https://www.regtsdelfttiles.com/antique-delft-tile-with-a-city-scene-19th-century.html) one from later in the 19th. At some point in the 19th century, printed transferware overtook hand painting and iron (brown and red) underglazes competed with tin (blue). Certainly the popularity was not constantly high, but I don’t think it ever went away. You can still buy new delft tiles today. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-this-painted-tile-depicts/1010043/65 "2024-11-13T05:36:39Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I don’t think the blue on white ever really went away I didn’t say it did - but it wasn’t William Morris and William De Morgan doing it. I already mentioned the 20th C revival myself, and you get how a “collection covering the 18th and 19th C” _includes_ the OP’s date, right? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2024, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-this-painted-tile-depicts/1010043/66 "2024-11-13T06:22:54Z")
If the seller claimed it was from the 18th century > [@markn\_1](#): > > There was a tag on it that says it dates from about 1740 And there were scads of them manufactured in the 18th century, and lots of those are still around and are easy to buy, why would you assume it was produced at any other time? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-this-painted-tile-depicts/1010043.md?page=3)