What Goes Around Comes Around…
Last spring Don Sbicca in Monrovia, California contacted Tile Heritage with some decorative tiles he wanted identified. What differentiated Don’s request from others received at THF was that his tiles were not only familiar but related back to the Foundation’s earliest days and the unearthing of one of the largest privately held collections of historic California tiles ever amassed!

Back in 1985 Don and his wife had added on to their home and were in need of tiles. Somehow they became aware of a deceased "tile guy" who had lived nearby, and they went to have a look. A young man was emptying four small warehouse buildings just down the street; he lived in northern California and was a tile setter himself. He had many pallets of field tile as well as other pieces in large quantities he was shipping up north. The couple ended up buying the salvage rights to the remaining mess of tiles in the four buildings. Among the debris Don found a small box tucked away in the back corner. In it were 26 Pomona 4 ¼” tiles depicting three different hand-painted gulls in flight. Not having found any field tile to match, they kept the tiles in the box… for 28 years!

Regarding the tile collection itself: Henry Krier, an eccentric tile contractor, who developed his reputation during the 1920s and ‘30s, stockpiled leftovers from his jobs in the warehouses adjacent to his home in Monrovia. Henry Sr. died in ’67 at age 80; his son, Henry Jr., the “tile guy” referred to above, had carried on the family business. (See “The Legacy of Henry Krier” by Lynn Downey in Flash Point, vol. 2, no. 3.) The young man from northern California was Richard Baratta, whose father Rick was a beneficiary of the Krier estate.

Realizing the artistic and historic value of the collection, Rick chose the tiles for his portion of the settlement. And after tiling two houses in the Sacramento area, Rick contacted Tile Heritage to determine what to do with the bulk that remained!

As for the gulls, they “flew” into our lives upon meeting the late Cecil Sanders at his home in Grass Valley, California in the late 1980s when we were actively engaged in tape recording the “seniors” of the industry. He had worked as a designer at the Pomona Tile Company in Pomona for about five years in the early 1930s, producing these birds in flight among other decorative motifs. At 79 years old at the time he was as spry as a young kid, aghast that anyone would be interested in his short life as a tile maker!

THF Tile Industry Sponsors Gallery Links
THF Supporters and Members

We're social … connect to Tile Heritage …….

Your contribution is valued and essential
for a THF web-accessed index!
We have an additional two year Archiving Fulfillment plan with budgets outlined for 2014 & 2015.
(Details are available in a formal Strategic Plan document. E-mail for details: foundation@tileheritage.org)
To date Sponsor, Member Gift and Grant FUNDING accomplishments include:

• Digitizing and forming a searchable database for the sizable slide and photography collection
of over 42,000 images.
• Digitally recorded, accessioned and archived historic tiles that have been donated to Tile Heritage
over the past 26 years, representing a collection numbering over 4,000 different American tiles.
• Accessioned and archived the historic tile catalog collection of over 600 items as well as the collection of over 2700 historic and contemporary periodicals.
Now our full focus in on the ephemeral (historic & contemporary tile industry documents) files that contain roughly 40,000+ items. Work is underway, under the direction of a volunteer professional archivist, THF staff and other volunteers preparing the material for a database and an internet accessed finding­-aid index.

Make a DONATION today . . . there are many ways to assist!
THANK YOU!
(Contributions to Tile Heritage Foundation are tax-deductible as allowed by law.)
Tile Heritage Foundation P.O. Box 1850, Healdsburg CA 95448
Phone: 707-431-8453 Fax: 707-431-8455
Email: foundation@tileheritage.org

Link to E-News prior to Spring 2010

Join in! Email: foundation@tileheritage.org
Send Tile Heritage your ‘Tile Tales’ - Share pictures of interesting installations both historic and contemporary as well as restorations and other tile treasures! Submission guide lines

Tags: Spring Lake NJ , Frank H. Jump, Flint Faience, Larry Mobley, Cranford NJ, Marlo Bartels, Airfield Dreams, THF Sponsors, Members Renewal, Founders Legacy, Submission Guidelines, Archives, Cecil Sanders, Henry Krier, E.H. Schmeider, Fading Ads of New York City, Lynn Downey, Flash Point, Don Sbicca, Pomona Tile