Designed and produced in 1915, by the Rookwood Pottery Company in Cincinnati, Ohio, but never installed, this playful tableau and accompanying watercolor sketch is an example of the way in which Rookwood’s artistry could transform simple ceramic tile into a work of art. The preparatory watercolor sketch shows placement, color, and scale for what would be the finished product, with only minor changes in the 23-tile tableau. Unlike similar Grueby tile friezes, this tableau does not have repeating tiles, each piece is important and it reads as one complete image. With very thin grout lines the tiles are placed closely together, deemphasizing its many individual parts in service to the whole image.

This parade of geese executed in clay is reminiscent of white line color woodblock prints, made fashionable in the early twentieth century by woodblock artists in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Using lines drawn with slip, clay with water added to it, to act as barriers for the colored glaze, these lines remain the color of the clay body when fired, giving the appearance of white outlines. These outlines help to keep the colored glazes from running during firing and help to create dimensionality of the waddling geese and surrounding landscape. Framing the scene on either side are trees executed with two toned tree bark (brown and tan) giving them depth, and dark green leaves, with glaze applied thicker in some areas to give the perception of denser leaves. The animated waddling white geese stand out against the green, blue and tan landscape with their application of glaze producing a modeling effect. Expertly applied white glaze with wisps of grey help to give the geese dimension and define features like wings and tails.

See this and other extraordinary works from Rookwood in MAACM’s fourth-floor tile gallery.