The ornate clay tiles that were scanned are located in the corridor that connects the David Owsley Museum of Art to the Frank C. and Elizabeth B. Ball Recital Hall. The designer of these tiles, Ernest A. Batchelder, was a student of the Arts and Crafts School which stood behind traditional craftsmanship using natural materials. These relief tiles are reflective of this with their hand-made European Renaissance and Medieval subjects. Batchelder created his designs by first sculpting them in clay. Following this, plaster molds were made that allowed for duplication of additional clay tiles which could then be dried, bisque fired, and finally glaze fired.
Ernest Batchelder once stated, “There is a dignity to hand labor…a dignity of the mind and heart, not of the hand alone.” It makes one ponder how today’s replication technology compares to that of the past and where this technology will take us in the future?
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