DELFTWARE TILES

of ceramics specialist Martyn Edgell Antiques, looks at the tiles in Hauteville House

Perhaps it was the stories and scenes they often feature that made delftware tiles such a favourite with Victor Hugo. He used them inventively in many of the rooms at Hauteville House, but in the Dining Room (the first room to be completed) they are definitely the star of the show. Panels depicting flower-filled baskets fill the walls and function as paintings would in a more conventional 19th- century dining room. They are also given symbolic significance – arranged above the fireplace in a double H, they represent Hauteville, Hugo and Humanity – an abiding literary preoccupation. In this corner, the tiles provide a striking frame for upcycled pieces of faience including a basin concocted from an 18th- century soup tureen, a vase and a candlestick.

ABOVE The basin is made from an 18th- century soup tureen, vase and candlestick FACING PAGE The tiled !replace was designed by Victor Hugo. Assorted 18thcentury delftware tiles in blue and manganese, showing biblical scenes and landscapes, form the...