Exploring AETCo’s 1890s Catalogue

Greetings from deep in the antique tile archives!

If you, like us, find yourself wanting to know more about these beautiful antique tiles, you’ve come to the right place. A not-insubstantial amount of our computer’s hard drive is filled with historic catalogues from tile makers of the era, which we regularly flip through when identifying new inventory or helping a client match existing tile.

While field tiles weren’t included in these catalogues, each maker provided an expansive overview of its figural tiles. Today, we want to look at The American Encaustic Tiling Company, or AETCo.

Founded in 1875, AETCo. became the largest producer of tiles in the world before closing in 1935 due to the Depression. We found one source stating the company made up to three million square feet of tile each month at its height — the equivalent of nearly 16 football fields!

We wanted to highlight some tiles from an AETCo catalogue from the 1890’s currently in our collection and ready to install in your next project:

Originally offered as a surround, these distinctive tiles look as beautiful today as they did 130 years ago.

These intricate tiles show a Roman couple and could be used as corners in a fireplace surround or in many other applications.

If you’re looking for a perfect floral tile to complement a larger design, these sweet figural tiles are a great option!

This majestic frieze set was salvaged from an 1890’s butcher shop in Brooklyn. Our clients have used them in kitchens and bathrooms!

At just over 2” square, these little circular accent tiles can fit into any design!

If you want to check out more American Encaustic Tile Co. tiles in our collection, all of which are ready to install, click here! We have a good selection of figural and field tiles to fit your needs.

That’s all for now. Reach out if you’re looking for something you don’t see, as much of our inventory still isn’t online.

Until next time,

Katy + James