Wall tile with Art Nouveau linear decor, Joseph Maria Olbrich ( - )

Wall tile with Art Nouveau linear decor, Joseph Maria Olbrich ( - ) is held by Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe. Museum description: The history of the Villeroy & Boch earthenware factory in Mettlach (Saarland) began in 1809, when Jean-Francois Bach took over an earthenware manufactory in Mettlach. In 1813, production was able to begin following conversion and modernization work. From 1825, the use of copperplate printing began here. In 1869, a dedicated factory was established for the manufacture of tiles and mosaic panels, where the famous "Mettlach tiles" were produced. The Boch family expanded the family empire with foresight: this included, for example, the founding of a ceramic museum in 1844 or the establishment of the factory's own drawing school in 1851. From 1859, experiments with colour lithography were begun. Other sites belonged to this remarkably large family enterprise: Septfontaines, Dresden, Torgau, Wallerfangen, and Bonn. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Boch factories The museum record gives measurements length: 14.5 cm, width: 14.5 cm, height: 1.2 cm; place associated: Mettlach (production); maker recorded: Joseph Maria Olbrich ( - ); Villeroy & Boch Steingutfabrik Mettlach. These details come from the holding museum's own record; how far this object represents a wider collectible type has not yet been independently verified.