Authentic antique Victorian tiles, handcrafted and hand-colored by 19th century artisans, were not just installations but also works of art in both outdoor and indoor spaces. Geometric, floral, and mosaic motifs were all the rage, patterns that long ago outgrew their origins in the Victorian era from 1830 to 1901. Emerging from the Gothic Revival and Romantic movements, geometric motifs have been recreated throughout various periods of the history. Octagonal tiles began on Victorian floors in bathrooms, fireplaces, porches, and kitchens. Design trendsetters have continued to use squares, hexagons, octagons, triangles, and rectangles in newer hues, silhouettes, and finishes.
A very popular octagonal tile design over time is the octagon and dot scheme. The classic Victorian pattern is also highly preferred by tile designers because it can appear understated or on point in its simplicity. This geometric style gets its name from the small point of a diamond formed by joining four diagonal sides, made to be small, of four separate octagons. Blue and white had been the color palette of choice, sparking the invention of new printing technology. It has reappeared as white octagons with black or white dots in contemporary residences today.
Art Nouveau during the Edwardian era then transformed geometric designs into natural hues and figures in which octagons and dots were fitted into floral motifs on classic English bricks. Colonial and heritage houses in the Americas absorbed geometric and Old World Spanish styles and again appeared in antebellum buildings in the New World. During the roaring ’20s, they were dressed in warm earth colors to complement traditional hardwood trim, while in the ’30s they were given classic Hollywood chrome, metal, and glossier surfaces along with sunburst designs. These decades gave rise to the art deco movement, which remains a major champion of geometric patterns.
Although octagonal tile took a break in the ’40s and ’50s, it made a resurgence in orange and lime green bathrooms and showers in the ’70s. Geometric tiles stuck around for the brown-and-tan kitchen and foyer floors. the 1980s and remain today in restored Victorian, Colonial, antique, retro and contemporary abodes. From great names in ceramic coverings such as American Olean, Roto Zip, Pergo and HR Johnson surfaces such as matte, glass, encaustic, stone, textured, mosaic, satin and glossy emerged. Octagonal and dot mosaics are now constructed from materials such as travertine, slate, vitrified clay, stone, terracotta, quarry, granite, sandstone, porcelain, ceramic, limestone, glass, and marble.
