group of six matching original late 19th or early 20th century antique american mottled and variegated interior residential fireplace majolica border tiles designed and fabricated by the united states encaustic tile company (1886-1932), indianapolis, in., manufacturers of plain, encaustic, majolica, enameled & glazed tiles. the matching lot of glazed ceramic tiles feature lightly embossed seashells and other floral motifs possibly designed and/or modeled by ruth m. winterbotham of u.s.e.t. in 1874, a man named e.h. hall began tile production under the name of fischer and lansing in zanesville, ohio. american encaustic tiling company (a.e.t.) was founded in 1875. the production of encaustic tiles involves a complicated process in which powdered clays of different colors are pressed together to form a pattern or design. in 1876, hall left a.e.t, to be replaced by a man named gilbert elliot. in 1877, george stanberry became the superintendent, and produced a machine that mass produced tiles like never before in america. production increased, and the factory moved to a bigger building. in 1880, a.e.t. began making glazed tiles; embossed tiles came shortly after in 1881. a showroom was built in new york city around this time. herman mueller was hired in 1887, bringing with him many new techniques. he produced many large relief tiles, as well as panels of female figures, mythological symbols, and portraits. renaissance motifs influenced much of his work. he also produced intaglio-modeled tiles, portraits or scenes in which the design was carved into a tile, then glazed. the glaze darkened in the more deeply carved areas; in the shallow areas, the tones would be more delicate, giving certain tiles the appearance of a photograph. in 1890, a man named karl langenbeck, left rookwood pottery to work with a.e.t. he introduced many new colors to the company. once again, the factory was too small, and a.e.t. moved to a new plant, and was self proclaimed to be the largest tile factory in the entire world. mueller and langenbeck left a.e.t to start their own factory called the mosaic tile company. a man named christian nielson replaced mueller. in the 1890s a.e.t. produced a series of at least eleven printed decal tiles with designs by walter crane, taken directly from the original plates of babys own aesop fables and babys own opera, popular childrens books of the era. in 1913, cecil jones began working at a.e.t, where he became the head of the decoration department. he left in 1930. frederick hurten rhead came in 1917, to be the head of a research department. he created many new designs including painted, molded, and cuenca pieces, as well as some pottery. he stopped working at a.e.t. in 1927. leon v. solon was hired in 1912, and worked there until 1925. in 1932, a.e.t. had some financial problems, and sold off two of their factories. the original plant in zanesville closed in 1935, which was sold to the shawnee pottery company. a company named franklin tile combined with a.e.t. and kept their name. in the 1930s, franklin merged with olean tiles, to create a company called american franklin olean tiles, inc., which sold all of the companies tiles. in 1959, a.e.t acquired olean tile and murray tile company, and 1964 the whole consortium became the american olean tile company. the tiles have been carefully cleaned, and any and all mortar has been removed from the backside of each tile. the allover crazed finish is consistent with age. the antique american tiles were salvaged from a chicago graystone residence undergoing demolition. several 6 x 6 inch square-shaped tiles in this exact pattern and color scheme are available. priced for the lot. each tile measures 6 inches x 3 inches.