Found! At Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House

October 12, 2010

Through a generous grant of funds and expertise from the Newport Restoration Foundation’s Preservation Grants Program, the Historical Society is preparing to install moisture mediating systems at the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House. During work to prepare the basement, staff members are also examining the old dirt floor for any archeological features, as the floor will be covered with a reversible moisture barrier as part of the planned work.

Among other items (like old port bottles and some things clearly left by the restoration crew in the 1920s) was the tile pictured below, possibly a fireplace tile.

WLHHtile 5X7 72 dpi for web

 

 

 

 

The tile was made in Liverpool in the mid 18th century. Tiles like these were among the first transfer-printed ceramics. Two Liverpool printers, John Sadler and Guy Green, developed a method of printing images on clay, and in fact, this tile features an image of a print made by John Sadler. The fragment from the house is pictured below with another copy of the same tile, also from the NHS collections.

 

 

 

 

two tiles for web