🌊 Pair of Arts & Crafts Turquoise Relief Tile Plaque Sculptures, c.1909

🐕 Children with Dog & 🐐 Children with Goat
Attributed to Reginald Robert Tomlinson (1885–1978), After Claude Michel (Clodion)

📖 Subject & Medium

A rare pair of Arts & Crafts era turquoise-glazed ceramic raised relief tile plaque sculptures, c.1909, finished in richly mottled teal-blue tones and mounted in gilt-lined ebonized frames.

Subjects: Enfants au Chien (Children with Dog 🐕) and Enfants à la Chèvre (Children with Goat 🐐), both inspired by Rococo reliefs by Claude Michel, called Clodion (1738–1814) — celebrated for his playful depictions of putti and Bacchic revelry.

🎭 Composition & Technique

Cast in high relief with finely modelled textures, each plaque is enhanced by a lustrous Arts & Crafts glaze that deepens light and shadow.

• Children with Goat 🐐: A lively tangle of children pulling and climbing over a goat. The wiry detail of its coat contrasts with the rounded softness of their forms, set against a Rococo-inspired background full of energy.

• Children with Dog 🐕: Cherubs wrestle with a powerful hound, ropes taut as one child rides astride its back. The dog’s musculature conveys strength and movement, while Tomlinson’s glazing gives surface and depth.

Together, they fuse Clodion’s Rococo exuberance ✨ with Arts & Crafts design sensibility 🎨, creating decorative works that are both historicist and modern.

✒️ Inscribed / Verso / Signed

Unsigned, as typical of apprentice or workshop productions. Attributed to Reginald Robert Tomlinson, likely created during his early years with Minton, Hollins & Co., c.1909.

👤 About the Artist – Reginald Robert Tomlinson (1885–1978)

• 🎓 Trained at Farnham School of Art; apprenticed under Bernard Moore (1906–1909).

• 🏺 Worked as designer at Minton, Hollins & Co.; later Art Director at Crown Staffordshire China. Exhibited at the 1910 Arts & Crafts Exhibition Society.

• 🎨 From the 1920s, painted portraits and allegories in oils and pastels, now in Guildhall Art Gallery (London), The Potteries Museum (Stoke), and The Wilson (Cheltenham).

• 📚 Educational leader: Principal of Cheltenham School of Arts & Crafts; Senior Inspector of Art for the LCC; publications include Children as Artists (1947, Penguin).

• 🏅 Honours: Member of the R.B.A., Master of the Art Workers’ Guild, O.B.E. (1955).

📐 Dimensions (Framed)

• Width: 34 cm each

• Heights: 22.25 cm and 22 cm

• Depth: 2.5 cm

📜 Provenance

• Private northern shire collection

• Curated by Cheshire Antiques Consultant LTD

• Exhibited at Middle Shire Museum

💚 Why You’ll Love Them

✅ Rare early plaques by Tomlinson
✅ Rococo-inspired compositions after Clodion ✨
✅ Lustrous Arts & Crafts turquoise glazing 🎨
✅ Decorative impact in both traditional and eclectic interiors 🏡
✅ Collectible crossover: ceramic art × Arts & Crafts × Rococo revival 🏺

🧾 Condition Report

General Overview
Well-preserved pair of ceramic reliefs with original glazing. Later matching frames, with some wear and touch-ups.

Detailed Assessment

• Glaze: Rich turquoise, intact with depth and shine.

• Crazing: Fine, age-typical crackle throughout.

• Wear: Light surface dulling on raised areas.

• Stains/Marks: Minor age-related spotting and discoloration.

• Losses/Repairs: Small chips and touch-ups present, not distracting.

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