Victorian Alice in Wonderland Nursery Tiles

"I quite agree with you," said the Duchess; "and the moral of that is -- 'Be what you would seem to be' -- or if you'd like it put more simply -- Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise. ~Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

CFA Voysey Alice Tiles for Minton Co.

Although William Morris and Lewis Carroll knew each other well through their mutual friend, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, by the time the Alice stories were so popular as to prompt this series of tiles, Morris and Co. was no longer producing tiles in house. Lewis Carroll (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) did have Morris & Co. Wonderland-themed tiles installed in the fireplace in his rooms at Oxford, but those tiles were made by William De Morgan. You can see those red-lustre tiles here: Lewis Carroll fireplace at Oxford tiles.

This set of Alice in Wonderland tiles based primarily on CFA Voysey's Alice in Wonderland tiles produced by Minton Co. John Tenniel's illustrations and Voysey's Alice designs for tile and textiles. Where characters were missing, I've supplemented with the original John Tenniel illustrations.

Alice's Adventures Underground: The Backstory

First told to Alice Liddel and her sisters on 4 July 1862, Alice's Adventures Underground, later Alice in Wonderland, was not published until 1865. Surprisingly, it received poor reviews and it was not until its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There was released in 1871 that the Alice tales began to gain popularity. By the 1890s, when CFA Voysey designed the Alice tiles for Minton Co., Alice was well-known in all British nurseries.

Lewis Carroll made several entries in his diary regarding Alice between 1862-1864. She was, at one point, "Alice in Elfland" so we can only imagine how the story evolved. Here he notes his first telling the story to Alice Liddell and her sisters:

Alice in Wonderland Character Tiles

Alice Accent Tiles

Alice character accent tiles are available on 4.25 and 6 inch tiles with a cream or white background.