Stove Tile

functional; decorative

This image is of Samson holding a skeletal jaw of an ass. Samson had been given superhuman strength to fight his enemies, the Philistines. When confronted with a thousand men, he demonstrated this strength by killing them with the jawbone of an ass. This deed is recorded in Judges 15:15–16: “And he found a new jawbone of an ass, and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.” The tile makers’ mark is impressed on the floor below his feet.

lead-glazed

Rectangular earthenware stove tile with deep relief scene of a man standing, left leg bending, holding a bone in his hands. He is under a double columned blue, white, yellow and brown arch. Yellow winged angels at top corners. Unglazed back, sides.