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Rectangular stove tile, decorated in blue and yellow with leafy border and the figures of two men in Tudor costume. These tile fragments were once part of a state of the art smokeless ceramic stove, which was manufactured in West Germany. It was installed at the Abbey of St Mary Graces to warm the private apartments of the abbot and was probably in use in the early 1500s. A luxury item, which only the aristocracy or clergy would have been aware of due to their cross-Channel connections. This wonderfully warming invention would have been specially commissioned and required an expert craftsman to accompany the tiles to England and build the stove on site. These fragments were found at St. Mary Graces, East Smithfield.
Date
1500 AD - 1550 AD
Image Number
000096
