The Aloha Boathouse and the Iris Bathroom: Two Installations by the Grueby Faience and Tile Company
August 6, 2013
The Two Red Roses Foundation is pleased to announce the publication of its first book, The Aloha Boathouse and the Iris Bathroom: Two Installations by the Grueby Faience and Tile Company. Two extraordinary, large-scale domestic tile projects by the Grueby Faience and Tile Company- a boathouse floor from Newport, Rhode Island, and a complete bathroom from Bratenahl, Ohio might easily have been sold off piecemeal as salvaged panels or individual tiles. Instead, both were extracted from their original sites substantially complete.
Acting on its mission to foster public appreciation of high quality craftsmanship and design from the American Arts and Crafts era, the Two Red Roses Foundation has made an unprecedented commitment to conserve thousand of tiles so that the original visions of designers and clients to create two highly personal spaces would be safeguarded. This is the story of those rescued installations- one a testament to a love of the sea, the other a private retreat- the men and women who envisioned and financed them, and the idea and images that inspired their imaginations.
This small manuscript contains two essays by Susan J. Montgomery and more than seventy-five full-color illustrations. Both installations have been restored and will be reassembled in their entirety for public exhibition in the soon to be built Museum of the American Arts and Crafts Movement in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The catalogue was designed and laid out by Patricia Fabricant and produced by Marquand Books. The following article has been published by Marquand Books:
"The Two Red Roses Foundation (TRRF), a non-profit, educational institution, promotes understanding of the American Arts and Crafts movement through collecting and preserving decorative and fine arts. Their recent catalogue, The Aloha Boathouse and the Iris Bathroom: Two Installations by Grueby Faience and Tile Company, presents two reconstructed tile installations and their history.
Arthur Curtiss James built the boathouse Aloha Landing in 1912 at his Newport, Rhode Island, estate, with the ceramic tile floor as the focal point. Created by the Boston-based Grueby Faience and Tile Company, the floor featured tile pieces that depicted James's yacht, the Aloha, as well as eighteen other sailing ships. Grueby's shop, which operated between 1891 to 1919, was famous for its faience, or glazed terra-cotta, as well as its tile work. The company built major residential and commercial installations, but only a handful of these projects have survived. In 2003, when Aloha Landing was scheduled to undergo major renovation, TRRF helped remove and preserve the entire tile floor. The Iris Bathroom was another project by the Grueby Faience and Tile Company. In the mid-1910s, almost twelve hundred tiles were installed in the Ina and Oliver Clay House in Bratenahl, Ohio. The tiles created the scene of a lily-covered pond, hedged with long-stemmed irises. Between 2004 and 2005, the tiles were removed and reconstructed for historic preservation and public exhibition by TRRF. Marquand Books produced the eighty-page catalogue, designed by Patricia Fabricant. The book features more than seventy-five full-color illustrations. Essays by Susan J. Montgomery explore the character and history of the tile installations, as well as the people who envisioned and commissioned the projects."