Art Tile Collection From Conference Speaker Mohr At Auction In January
by Kate Nixon
On January 23rd in the new year, a rare and important collection from longtime National Arts and Crafts Conference and Shows supporters Robert Switzer and speaker Richard Mohr will be highlighted in a brand new auction.
The new auction American Art Tiles: Highlights from the Switzer-Mohr Collection, hosted by Toomey & Co Auctioneers, features 150 lots from a variety of pottery firms such as Grueby, Newcomb College, Pewabic, Van Briggle, Rookwood, California Faience, Volkmar, Marblehead, Rhead, and Weller Pottery among others to be well represented.
The author, Richard Mohr, at the all Rookwood-designed Tea Room of Cincinnati Union Terminal in May of 1993. Photo courtesy of Richard Mohr.
According to the author and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and the Classics in an introduction featured on Toomey & Co Auctioneers, Dr. Mohr wrote of his collection as an “an encyclopedic array of tiles from the golden era of America art tiles” with styles running the range from the Arts & Crafts period into early Modernism. A representation of a vibrant and intense addition to the genre of architectural and home decoration, Mohr describes art tiles in its many forms. “Art tiles added zest, snap, intensity and fun to American life as they grouted their way into nearly every reach of its material culture – in the home as fireplace surrounds, wainscots, backsplashes, nursery cladding, even as Christmas cards of clay.” Art tiles are included in many forms of American architecture from subway and train stations to churches and cathedrals and even the floor of the Capitol.
The curated Switzer-Mohr collection is the product of a passionate and knowledgeable scholar and teacher, dedicated to making the history and technique accessible to others. Dr. Mohr is the author of Pottery, Politics, Art: George Ohr and the Brothers Kirkpatrick (2003) and The Splendid Disarray of Beauty: The Boys, The Tiles, the Joy of Cathedral Oaks (2023).
In a recently posted preview, a number of ceramic friezes and rare tiles have already been shown including a two-tile frieze of a Viking ship with waves from Grueby Faience ($2,500-$3,500), a three-tile Rookwood Faience frieze with passionflower designed by William Hentschel ($900-$1,200), a rare classical relief tile from Frederick Hurten Rhead for Rhead Pottery ($800-1,000), a rare Peter Rabbit tile from Pewabic Pottery ($1,000-$1,500), a rare commemorative tile for the 1933 Chicago’s World’s Fair ($1,000-$1,500) among other rarities to be posted in the coming weeks.
Grueby Faience Company Two-tile frieze with Viking ship and waves ($2,500–3,500)
For more information on the Switzer-Mohr collection, please visit the auction page on Toomey&Co.