Tile: Poor Richard’s, He That Plants Trees (TK)

Object/Artifact

-

Robert Darr Wert & Country Prints

Tile: He That Plants Trees (TK).: Images: g.p.hefti, bigfunvintage, Etsy.com
Tile: He That Plants Trees (TK).

Images: g.p.hefti, bigfunvintage, Etsy.com

Name/Title

Tile: Poor Richard’s, He That Plants Trees (TK)

Description

A four-color silkscreen underglaze print on a white tile blank depicting a Pennsylvania “Dutch” farmer digging a hole to plant a tree. The tree’s root ball is wrapped in burlap, and a bird sits atop its terminal branch with outstretched wings. Stylized representations of other trees surround the farmer. The central image is bordered by a maxim from Poor Richard’s Almanac, “He that plants trees loves others besides himself”. This is one of a series of at least fourteen tiles featuring maxims from Poor Richard’s Almanac. In 1732, English minister and physician Thomas Fuller published “Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs”, a collection of over 5,000 quotes, including the one found on this tile; see web link.

Made/Created

Artist Information

Artist

Robert Darr Wert

Role

Artist

Manufacturer

Country Prints, Ceramo Studio, New York

Date made

circa 1956 - circa 1959

Time Period

20th Century

Place

* Untyped Place

New York City

Notes

Design, screen production, and mixing of colored underglazes performed at the Country Prints workshop, Gill, MA. Screen printing of underglaze colors, clear glaze, firing and finishing by Ceramo Studio, NYC. This example is printed on the thicker tile body used by Country Prints/Ceramo Studio prior to 1962.

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Front: “wert by hand”, lower right corner near rootball of tree. Back: Country Print Tiles label hanger.

Dimensions

Height

3/8 in

Width

6 in

Length

6 in

Material

White Tile Blank, Colored Underglaze, Clear Overglaze, Oaktag Label Hanger, Cork

Color

Yellow Ochre, Brick Red, Brown, Dark Green

Web Links and URLs

Thomas Fuller reference.