Art Nouveau Ducks and Dragons Backsplash
Morris
De Morgan
Arts & Crafts
Pre-Raphaelite
Victorian
Medieval
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But it is one thing to read about dragons and another to meet them. Ursula K. Le Guin
This is an early De Morgan Art Nouveau design with some classic Victorian elements: the blue and white color (but also available in very light cream as shown), its scaleability, the floral border, and the stylized quality of the dragons. The Happy Dragons are available both as individual tiles, and as scaleable panels for backsplash or fireplace.
The original panel consists of 20 tiles in a vertical orientation. The happy dragon pattern repeats on both the horizontal and the vertical, making it an excellent candidate for filling in odd sized spaces.
The original panel had six-inch center tiles, and a 1x6 inch and four 1-inch corner tiles. (Image from V&A)
The date of the original 'Happy Dragons' panel is the subject of debate. De Morgan did make red lustre tiles on earthenware blanks well into his Fulham period (1888-1907), and the V&A dates the piece as 1888. Arts and Crafts historian Michael Robinson dates is as c. 1882, which would be right after De Morgan's move to Merton Abbey (see About William De Morgan for an overview of his "periods"). I am inclined to agree with Michael Robinson. In the years preceding the move to Merton Abbey, De Morgan experimented with different glazes. He had begun experimenting with lustreware early in his Chelsea period, but several years of experimentation followed. He eventually made his own earthenware tiles, but the purchased blanks he used during his Chelsea and Merton Abbey periods, sometimes made the lustre uneven, as in the original of this panel. He also implemented these center tiles in cobalt blue. The foliage border is not unique to this panel but appears in various forms in many of De Morgan's tiles and borders. You can see the original at The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge
The Ducks and Dragons are available without the carnation border in 6 inch tiles (as shown at the top of this page).
Pricing for Duck and Dragon Tiles without carnation borders: $66 each
You can also order 8x8 ducks and dragons with the carnation border (not part of the backsplash, but same colors and would work as complementary tiles.
See information on De Morgan Duck and Dragon accent tiles with carnation borders.
The backsplash consists, at the minimum, of four 8-inch corner tiles.
Pricing for Duck and Dragon four-square with carnation borders, six-inch tiles: $375
Pricing for Duck and Dragon four-square with carnation borders, eight-inch tiles: $400
Due to drama, I'm redesigning the four-square to make it an extendable backsplash.
Colors: The Happy Dragons (Ducks and Dragons) on square tiles are available in the same Victorian cobalt Art Nouveau Ducks and Dragon tiles with complete borders. Persian Red is not available (and no one has ever asked for it).
Background Color: The background color is warm white.
Complementary Tiles: Following the rule that "Good design repeats itself", you can use the Happy Dragons accent tiles as a complementary border or elsewhere to pull the look of the room together.
The Ducks and Dragons fireplace surround extends the De Morgan backsplash with 6x8 inch tiles. You can extend the width and height by additing additional rows of Additional rows of 8x6-inch (rows) or 6x8-inch (columns) edges can be for as wide or as tall as you require. Center tiles, without borders (shown at the top of this page) are 6x6 inches.
This actually is a Limited Edition. Daltile, who makes the 6x8 inch tiles, no longer makes 8x8 inch tiles. Now, 8 inches is the nominal size, the tiles you see in the photo are actually 7.865 inches. The new 8 inch tiles from another supplier are 7.75 inches. This matters! I have managed to find a stash of 7.865 tiles and I am hoarding them only for use in this design that uses both the 8x8s and 6-8s. This means that:
Red is no longer an option.
Only the warm white background is available (because the native white is different between the two manufacturers)
I'm going to redesign this using all square tiles (6x6 and 8x8). This is disheartening; I really love the way these fit together.
Foursquare corner tiles with borders (8x8): $140 each.
8 x 6 inch side tiles (while available): $140 each.
6 x 8 inch vertical border tiles: $140 each.
Center tiles without borders (6 inches): $72 each
*There is a lot of edge matching on this.
I'm still designing this but it will come. It will have top and bottom edges but not corners, I don't think.
You can build your own fireplace surround from the individual backsplash tiles, as shown here. The six-inch borderless tiles would work just as well.
