Lot 150
WILLIAM DE MORGAN (1839-1917)
RARE FRAMED P&O 'ARABIA COMPANION FRIEZE' TILE PANEL, CIRCA 1897
Auction: The Art of the Tile : The Michael Blood Collection | Wed 15th October from 10am
Description
tin-glazed earthenware, impressed maker's marks
Dimensions
each tile 23cm square (frame size 37cm x 60.5cm)
Provenance
The Michael Blood Collection, see lot 1 for more details
Footnote
Literature: Catleugh, Jon ''William de Morgan Tiles'', 2002, p. 79, p. 94, pl. 135,
De Morgan supplied designs for twelve P&O ships between 1892 and 1900. These rare tiles were originally used in the P&O liner RMS Arabia, built by Caird & Co. in 1898 and designed by T. E. Calcutt, as a frieze just below the ceiling in the first class companionway. RMS Arabia was torpedoed on 6 November 1916 en route from Sydney via Fremantle, Western Australia to England, 180 km south by west of Cape Matapan, Greece. Divers salvaged the tiles from the wreck in the late 1970s.
