72
EXPOSITION AT YIENNA.
shape of the tile. Tiles so formed are more perfect in
shape, are denser, stronger and more uniform in wear, than
those made from clay in its plastic state. There is less
shrinkage in firing, and little or no distortion. Most of the
cheap tiles upon the Continent are made by the old methods,
and are by no means so exact in their forms, and sharp in
their edges and angles, as those made from the damp pow-
der under pressure, in accurately formed moulds.
The exactness and uniformity of size obtained by the new
method greatly stimulated the industry, and it has beeil
steadily increasing in importance to the present time. Many
firms are now engaged in the manufacture in Great Britain,
particularly at Stoke-on-Trent, and Burslem in Stafford-
shire. The establishment of Messrs. Minton, Hollins &
Co., now carried on by Mr. Holliiis, is one of the oldest,
and is occupied exclusively in the production of all varie-
ties of tiles.
The rapidly increasing demand for tiles of all descrip-
tions of late years is remarkable, not only in England but
throughout Europe. They are used in almost all modern
buildings of any pretension. They make the most service-
able and ornamental floors for public buildings. In the
South Kensington Museum alone there are some 40,000
square feet of pavement laid. They are used in railway
stations, on shipboard, and for decorating walls and pave-
meiits of churches. For this latter purpose, great numbers
are required in the work of restoration of old cathedrals.
At Worcester, .the cathedral which has lately been restored,
chiefly through the munificence of the Earls Dudley and
Ward, who gave equal to $350,000 in gold for the pur
pose, has a tiled chancel of most elaborate design, a part
of which is over four hundred years old. The dilapidated
portions have been renewed with tiles made in exact imi-
tation of the ancient tiles, and at a cost of not less than
$10,000, under the direction of Sir Gilbert Scott, the arch-
itect.
One firm alone (Minton, Hollins & Co.) eite the follow-
iug among the principal places for which they have furn-
ished the tile pavements :—
