Tile, tin-glazed earthenware, Tichelaar, Makkum, 1930

The firm Martin van Straaten & Co was a tile importer run by Martin van Straaten and Charles Lam, and was based at 28 Newgate Street, London at the beginning of the 20th century. The firm imported many Chinese tiles, but after World War One they were harder to obtain and often arrived warped. The firm instead bought similar tiles from Dutch firms, based on the Chinese originals which they provided to them.

The tiles were made by Tichelaar in Makkum, but the firm also worked closely with Van Hulst in Harlingen and Ravesteijn, Utrecht. A set of Chinese tiles that were likely the influence for this group are also in the museum's collection (FE.6-16-2014). Martin van Straaten was born in 1886 and died during the sinking of the R.M.S. Lusitania in 1915. The ship was on a return voyage from New York to Liverpool when it was torpedoed off the coast of Southern Ireland with the loss of 1195 civilian lives. Tile of tin-glazed earthenware, painted with a Chinese figure.

A series of tiles on which the designs of these are most likely based are also in the museum collection- FE.6-16.2014.