Tile — Tring tiles, England, ca. 1330

Tile — Tring tiles, England, ca. 1330 is an object recorded by Victoria and Albert Museum, dated ca. 1330. The museum's brief description reads: Red earthenware covered with a white slip, incised and carved with apocryphal and gospel scenes from the childhood of Christ; the whole covered in a clear lead glaze.

Said to have come from Tring Church, Hertfordshire. English, made about 1330.. Museum description: Lead-glazed earthenware tile covered with a white slip, carved and incised with scenes from the apochryphal and gospel accounts of the childhood of Christ. Tile of red earthenware with decoration representing incidents from the apocryphal accounts of the infancy of Christ. Executed by scratching through and cutting away a white slip under a yellow clear glaze.

The tile is divided into two equal compartments. The subject on the left relates to the story of a boy who imitated Jesus in sliding down a sunbeam and fell. A group of three persons are seen remonstrating with Joseph. In the right hand compartment the boy Christ stands on the left with a book in his left hand and his right uplifted. Three boys kneel before him. Above the three boys is a horizontal branch with foliage.

The museum record gives material recorded as Red earthenware, Lead glaze, Slip; measurements Length 35.9 cm; Width 20 cm; Length 35.9 cm; Depth 3.6 cm; place associated: England. 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.