original glazed pictorial tiles depicting ch. xii of sir walter scott's novel the talisman. the 6-inch dust pressed and block printed tiles are embossed on the reverse for the manufacturer, "minton's / china works / stoke on trent" along with the trade mark logo. tiles include a scene with "sir kenneth and the dwarf" depicting two figures and a dog amid a syrian nightscape in black, white and beige. each tile features the book title in the top left corner of the tile, while the scene chapter number is at bottom right. the designer's name, "moir smith" is delicately printed on the bottom left corner. the waverley novels are a long series of novels by sir walter scott that, for nearly a century, were among the most popular and widely read novels in all of europe. because scott did not publicly acknowledge authorship until 1827, the series takes its name from the first novel released in 1814, with later books bearing the word "by the author of waverly. "the talisman" was published in 1825 as the second of his tales of the crusaders. it took place at the end of the third crusade, mostly in a camp in palestine, where scheming and partisan politics, as well as the illness of king richard the lionheart, are placing the crusade in danger. the main characters are the scottish knight kenneth, a fictional version of david of scotland, earl of huntingdon, who returned from the third crusade in 1190; richard the lionheart, saladin, and edith plantagenet. minton's china works was a major ceramics manufacturing company that originated with thomas minton (1765-1836) who established a pottery factory in stoke-upon-trent, staffordshire, england in 1793. the tiles were salvaged from a prominent midwestern mansion demolished long ago. price individually.