This is a lovely antique Victorian tile designed by J. Moyr Smith.
John Moyr Smith (12 March 1839 – 1 December 1912) was a Scottish architect and an architectural historian, He was also noted as an artist and designer, famed for his work on ceramic tiles.
It is one of his four tiles that I have in my shop just now.
Just so there is no confusion - this is for ONE SINGLE TILE ONLY.
My tile is in excellent condition with no condition issues. It is 6 inches square and printed in black ink on a beige ground.
This one comes from the series Aesop's Fables and it illustrates the King Log and the Stork.
These "Fables" tiles are harder to find - and this is reflected in my asking price.
STORY: The frogs were tired of governing themselves. They had so much freedom that it had spoiled them, and they did nothing but sit around croaking and wishing for a government that could entertain them with the pomp and display of royalty.
So they sent a petition to Jupiter asking for a King.
Jupiter saw what simple and foolish creatures they were, but to keep them quiet and make them think they had a King he threw down a huge log, which fell into the water with a great splash.
The frogs hid amongst the reeds and grasses, thinking the new king to be some fearful giant. But they soon discovered how ineffectual the King Log actually was. Soon, the younger frogs were using the log as a diving platform. The older frogs made him a meeting place, where they complained loudly to Jupiter once again about the government.
To teach the frogs a lesson, Jupiter sent a large stork or crane to be King of Frogland. The stork proved to be a very different sort of ruler from the old King Log. He started to gobble up all the poor frogs. They begged Jupiter to take away this cruel tyrant before they should all be destroyed.
“How now!” cried Jupiter “Are you not yet content? You have what you asked for and so you have only yourselves to blame for your misfortunes.”
MORAL: Be sure you can better your condition before you seek to change.