This is a lovely antique Victorian tile designed by J. Moyr Smith.
John Moyr Smith (12 March 1839 – 1 December 1912) was a Scottish architect and an architectural historian, He was also noted as an artist and designer, famed for his work on ceramic tiles.
It is one of his four tiles that I have in my shop just now.
Just so there is no confusion - this is for ONE SINGLE TILE ONLY.
My tile is in excellent condition with no condition issues. It is 6 inches square and printed in black ink on a beige ground.
This one comes from the series Aesop's Fables and it illustrates the story of the Wolf and the Crane. These "Fables" tiles are harder to find - and this is reflected in my asking price.
STORY: A Wolf had been feasting too greedily, and a bone had stuck crosswise in his throat. He could get it neither up nor down, and of course, he could not eat a thing. Naturally, that was an awful state of affairs for a greedy Wolf.
So away he hurried to the Crane. He was sure that she, with her long neck and bill, would easily be able to reach the bone and pull it out. “I will reward you very handsomely”, said the Wolf, “if you pull that bone out for me”.
The Crane, as you can imagine, was very uneasy about putting her head in Wolf’s throat. But she was grasping in nature, so she did what the Wolf asked her to do. When the Wolf felt that the bone was gone, he started to walk away.
“But what about my reward!” called the Crane anxiously.
“What!” snarled the Wolf, whirling around. “Haven’t you got it? Isn’t it enough that I let you take your head out of my mouth without snapping it off?”
Moral: Expect no reward for serving the one who has no honor. Staying in a company of selfish people will not do anyone any favor.