The Tile Club: Camaraderie and American Plein-Air Painting The Tile Club | Page 16

Figure 1. Edward Wimbridge (English, 1841–1898),
A Tile Man’s Design, 1878, dimensions unknown, image
from “The Tile Club at Work,” Scribner’s Monthly XVII,
no. 3 ( January 1879): 407.
doubt a reference to the pitiful sale of their paintings. 15
Wimbridge pointed out the many uses for tiles put
forth by “our English neighbors,” and with no further
delay, the group moved on to other issues (fig. 1). 16
The fraternal nature of the association was para-
mount, as was the value of “comparing notes about the
results of summer work out-of-doors.” 17 It was stressed
that unlike other city clubs, theirs must be informal,
with no bylaws, officers, initiation fees, or dues. In
order to insure exclusivity, membership was limited
to twelve; in line with affecting a “studiously slangy
and Bohemian” air, each member would be assigned
a sobriquet humorously reflecting some aspect of his
10 THE TILE CLUB: Camaraderie and American Plein-Air Painting
physical character, personality, artistic temperament, or
some play on words. 18 For instance, Laffan was named
“Polyphemus” after the one-eyed mythological creature
because he had only one good eye (the other being
glass); and Quartley, almost exclusively a painter of the
sea, was named the “Marine.” These club names were
always used in their publications to stress the select na-
ture of the group, as well as to create a sense of intrigue
and inject an element of humor. 19 (See page 41 for a
complete list of Tile Club sobriquets.)
Meetings of the Tile Club were held each Wednes-
day evening at the studios of artist members on a rotat-
ing basis. The first was at the studio of Walter Paris at
3 Union Square; Wimbridge was the only other mem-
ber to show up. 20 The evening “tile painting exercise”
proved to be so unsuccessful that the two relieved their
frustration by purportedly throwing their pitiful pro-
ductions at each other. 21 Abbey and Reinhart attended
the second meeting and subsequently were joined by
Homer, O’Donovan, Laffan, Quartley, Gifford, Shinn,
Smith, and the painter J. Alden Weir, who was induct-
ed into the club in April of 1878.
None of the artists is known to have had any pre-
vious experience in the field of tile painting, but with
further effort, much to their surprise, “a certain fascina-
tion was found in these experiments.” 22 Little is known
about the technical aspects of their early exploits. Al-
though tiles of a “Spanish make,” cream-white in color,
were originally designated to be used, all the ex tant
tiles examined thus far are stamped either by “Josiah
Wedgwood” or “Minton Stoke on Trent.” These En-
glish ceramic manufacturers provided blank “bisquited
wares,” ready for decorating and glaze-firing in studio
kilns, to the amateur market. Both the Wedgwood
and Minton tiles were cream-white in color and 8 x
8 inches square, the type and shape prescribed by the