Copley Square tile

Building tile

Architect / Designer: John Hubbard Sturgis (1834–1888)
Manufacturer: John Marriott Blashfield (1811 – 1882)
Made at: The Stamford Terracotta Company (1858 – 1878)

1871–75

Object Place: Stamford, England

Medium/Technique Terracotta

Dimensions 22.86 x 22.86 x 7.62 cm (9 x 9 x 3 in.)

Credit Line Gift of Thomas William Mershon

Accession Number1995.706

NOT ON VIEW

CollectionsAmericas

ClassificationsArchitectural elements

This terracotta tile once adorned the exterior of the original building of the Museum of Fine Arts, completed in 1876 and located in Copley Square. With it's stylized, or simplified interpretation of a cluster of maple leaves, it reflected the ideals of the Design Reform movement, and specifically the influence of British designer Owen Jones. Architect John Hubbard Sturgis commissioned his friend John Marriott Blashfield, a pioneer in architectural terracotta in England, to make these tiles. The difficult logistics of fulfilling the MFA’s overseas order ultimately led to the collapse of Blashfield’s Stamford Terracotta Company.

DescriptionTerracotta ornament with center rosette from which spring four stylized maple leaves.

ProvenanceAbout 1985, sold by an art dealer, Littleton, MA to Thomas William Mershon, Maynard, MA; 1995, gift of Mershon to the MFA. (Accession date: September 20, 1995)