philip heath - pottery
Pottery and encaustic tile making
Contact
Kent
TN185QQ
About
I make pottery and tiles of various sorts, but have a particular interest in the work of medieval potters and tile makers in Britain and Europe, both in terms of the things that they made, and understanding the methods they used. In particular I have been trying to develop a practical understanding of the methods used by medieval tile makers to create the two-colour inlaid (sometimes called 'encaustic') tiles so characteristic of the period, the techniques for which were undocumented and largely lost when the demand for such tiles declined after the sixteenth century. This work involves both academic research and practical experimentation, and has various elements to it, including working with clays dug from the local area, testing tools and techniques which might have been used by a medieval tile maker, and building and firing a medieval-type earth kiln. The aim is both to understand and document these processes and also to produce examples of how such tiles would have looked when originally made - very different from the worn and weathered tiles recovered from archaeological excavations. If those pieces, in turn, can be put to practical use, help understand the medieval tiles we have, and be enjoyed in their own right, so much the better.
Mini craft gallery
Repeating pattern ‘knot’ tiles – from a fragment found in Lossenham Priory excavations
MADE BY PHILIP HEATH - POTTERY
Tile stamp for the two griffin tile found in Lossenham Priory excavations
MADE BY PHILIP HEATH - POTTERY
