1 January 2018

NICHOLAS VERGETTE TILE PANEL DISCOVERED


A hitherto unknown tile panel by Nicholas Vergette has been discovered in a house in England. I was contacted by the owner who wanted to authenticate it and from the photos he sent me I am almost certain it was made by Vergette. I have yet to see it, but there is little doubt it was by him. It is dated 1955 and is from the period of the plate illustrated above, in the V&A collection.

Vergette was one of the Bayswater Three, the studio he shared with William Newland and Margaret Hine, who had a successful career in the 1950s decorating coffee bars with colourful plates.

The house owner was refurbishing his old property and took down a false wall to reveal the tiles beneath, covering the entire room. More tiles were discovered in another room. This is an exciting find. The panel is larger than anything by Vergette from this period that I have seen before.  The details of the commission are unknown but there are indications that the person who ordered the tiles may have been acquainted with Newland.

I plan to visit the house in the next few weeks and hopefully will post pictures of the tiles here.

POSTSCRIPT
More details about the tiles, with pictures, here.

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