ABSTRACT
This chapter examines two distinctive products within the cross-Channel pottery market of the one hundred or so years spanning the English Reformation in which it is possible to observe the emergence of a new symbolic dimension in the design and function of traded wares. In the case of architectural ceramics, the smokeless ceramic tile-stove represents a dramatic transformation in the English interior of the 15th to 16th centuries. The use of multiple mould technology enabled the popular iconic repertoire of Roman Catholic worship, such as scenes from the lives of the Holy Family and the saints, which were based directly on the carved wooden altar shrines of churches, to enter the domestic sphere and to be reconstructed in a para-liturgical order for the purpose of private devotion. Archaeological investigation has demonstrated that the fashion for continental-style ceramic tile-stoves spread across the Channel during the second half of the 15th century.
