A sampling of the art tiles reflecting Pennsylvania history and
handcrafts created by Henry Mercer at his turn of the century Moravian
Pottery and Tile Works at Doylestown, PA. These are just some of the
nearly 400 that are installed in the main floor of the Pennsylvania
State Capitol in Harrisburg.
Read more here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moravian_Pottery_and_Tile_Works
If you are near Harrisburg, it is worth a quick stop (as I made) to
find parking and run inside for a quick look at these. The
receptionist in the rotunda will be glad to get you started, and the
bookshop, in the East Wing (I didn't get there) has the guidebook
available.
and see the suggested reading at the end of the Wikipedia entry, re
the Guidebook. A few are available for sale here:
www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&tn=tiled...
I ordered a guidebook! It is a facsimile of the one first published by
Mercer in 1908.
Here's what I tells me about the above scenes, l to r, top to bottom.
1) #134: Conestoga Wagon.
2) #94: House Fly.
3) #83: Bear Trap.
4 #67: Paring Apples.
Each entry in the book gives a multi-sentence descriptive history of
what one sees in the tile--all these written and published by Henry
Mercer himself.
eaten by a shark and cosygreeneyes added this photo to their favorites.
View 5 more comments
Teyacapan 10 months ago | reply
Thanks for posting these tiles. They were the things I liked best at the PA Capitol. Have a nice weekend
kdstutzman 10 months ago | reply
I've never been in the Capitol building here in PA, but these tiles look very interesting. Thanks!
henrhyde (gill) 10 months ago | reply
Very beautiful--great capture.
c. mcgraw 10 months ago | reply
Quite unusual and beautiful. Thanks for sharing all your great experiences with us. Great photo!