Tile: C.29A-F-2020

Place(s) associated

• Wincanton ⪼ Somerset ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (2020-11-16) by Cole, Philip Hamish

Dating

18th Century, Mid
George II
Circa 1730 CE - 1750 CE

Note

Only two other Wincanton tiles to this design are in public collections (in the V&A and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery). This pattern may have been made elsewhere, including in Friesland, but the close resemblance between the whole tile and the group of small tile fragments from the site, indicate that this tile was almost certainly from the Wincanton factory. Alongside, the tile, these few fragments usefully illustrate the importance of archaeology in the attribution of delftware.

The donor of this tile was involved in various excavations at the site of WIncanton pottery, including investigating the site of the kiln. During one visit, he witnessed a friend of his (Alison Nugus), who owned a property on the site of Ireson House (the Wincanton kiln site) excavate these fragments while planting a tree, about ten metres from where the kiln had been discovered previously. Ms Nugus gifted these fragments to the donor in 2007 (for details of this excavation, see Documentation 2008). In 2008, the donor purchased the complete tile from dealer, Roger Little. It may have been one of those excavated from the site of Wincanton pottery by archaeologist W. J. Pountney in 1916/17 (other ceramic fragments discovered by Pountney are in the collections of British Museum and V&A) and therefore although not marked, was firmly attributed to Wincanton based on proximity to the kiln site.