Alun Graves

The title page title of this book is Tile and Tilework of Europe.

The particular strength of this book is that it shows chiefly installations of tiles, although it does include some pictures of individual tiles; almost all of the pictures are in color. As such, it covers tile scenes, in which the tiles are individually insignificant but are assembled into a portrait, landscape, etc. It also has wonderful pictures of the assemblage of a selection of repeating tiles, or even one repeated tile alone. The swirling marvel of the tiled staircase at the Falkenlust hunting lodge could not be imagined from the tiles alone. (Unfortunately, this is one of the few black and white photographs.) It makes a great complement to most of my other tile books, which focus chiefly on individual tiles.

The book focuses on Western Europe, including Austria and Germany, beginning in the Middle Ages; I believe 12th century is about the oldest. It also contains Islamic tile work at the Alhambra, and as an influence on the European work.

It is a an excellent collection for readers like me who love the tiles but don't have the resources to be assembling a huge library of specialized books, although I'm sure it would also be a great addition to a large collection on tile.… (meer)