We were involved in a large tile restoration project in Broad Street Bristol. We were approached by Shaylors Building Contractors from Birmingham to reproduce missing tiles from a large grade 1 listed ceramic mural that faced an old printing works in the city centre.
The entire face of the Edward Everard print works in Broad Street is made of ceramic tiles, pillars, bricks and columns. In 1900 printer Edward Everard wanted to expand his existing premises, so he decided to build a modern printing works in the city center, which would be a monument to the history of printing. It was designed by Henry Williams, a Bristol architect, and the front facade was designed and made by the 19th century sculptor W.J. Neatby.
Neatby was was in charge of the department of architectural ceramics at Doultons and developed a type of ceramic that was coined Carrara Ware because of its resemblance to the marble from Carrara, Italy. The design was influenced by Everard and depicted the printers Gutenberg, the father of printing, and William Morris, the leading figure of the craftwork revival.
The reproduction of the missing tiles was a challenge to us, as to get an exact match to the existing tiles was seemingly impossible. Although we did not use exactly the same techniques as Neatby used, we were able to produce equivalent tiles that matched the originals extremely well. Many hours of research and trial and error have gone into making the replacement pieces. The following gallery hopefully will give a taste of how we did it!
All our panels are hand painted to order, so they can be adapted to fit a variety of situations. You can choose any of the murals and panels illustrated, which we can adjust or adapt to fit the space that you want to tile.
Alternatively, you can commission us to paint a mural in the subject of your choice. We can work from photographs and pictorial information to create a mural combining as many elements as you want. To order, simply follow the instructions below or just call us on 01608 658993 to discuss your requirements.
