(2) Framed Decorative Arts and Crafts Ceramics Tiles. One with exposed back that shows company stamp for J. & J. G. Low Art Tile Works. The other is from the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works. Both with paper labels attached with information and prior pricing on them. 

Overall Size for Both: 7 x 7 in. 

Sight Size for Both: 4 x 4 in., 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. 

The Moravian Pottery and Tile Works was founded in Doylestown, Pennsylvania in 1912 by Henry Chapman Mercer. Although the company is now a museum run by a 501c3 non-profit organization, handmade tiles are still produced there in a similar manner to his original designs. Mercer was a major proponent of the Arts and Crafts movement in America, and directed the work at the pottery until his death in 1930. Mercer generally did not affix a potter’s mark to tiles made while he directed the work at MPTW, espousing that “the work should speak for itself, and be easily identifiable.” Following his death, there were several marks used to indicate that a tile had originated at MPTW. The Tile Works is one of three cast-in-place concrete structures built by Mercer, one of the sturdiest and longest wholly surviving examples of this form in the world. Mercer’s other structures include Fonthill, which is located on the same property and served as his home, and the Mercer Museum, located approximately one mile away. The Moravian Pottery and Tile Works continued to produce art pottery, tiles, and smaller pieces up until 1972 when it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, at which time the state government took charge of the facility. After being transferred to the control of Bucks County they began offering workshops and an apprenticeship program to teach the art of handcrafting ceramic tiles and mosaics as part of an initiative to preserve local cultural heritage and stimulate the regional economy.

J. & J. G. Low Art Tile Works, also known as J. & J. F. Low Art Tile Works or Low Art Tile Works, was an American manufacturer of decorative ceramic tiles, active from 1877 to 1902 in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The company was founded by John Gardner Low, along with his father John Low, after seeing European tiles at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Its name later changed when J. F. Low, son of John Gardner Low, replaced his retired grandfather. During the 1880s the company won awards in the United States and Europe for its high relief decorative art tiles, which ornamented such objects as candlesticks, cast-iron stoves, clocks, fireplace surrounds, soda fountains, trivets, and walls. Several chemists and designers who worked for Low Art Tile Works later started their own companies, including William H. Grueby of the Grueby Faience Company, Arthur Osborne of Ivorex Plaques, and George W. Robertson of the Robertson Art Tile Company.