BLACK DOG OF WELLS

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Celtic Blessing

A BLESSING ON THE HEARTH, A BLESSING ON THE HOME

This decorative plaque is based on a carving from the Glamis Stone in Angus, North Scotland. It shows interlaced knot work typical of early Celtic stone carving. With no end or beginning to the knot, it has an almost magic quality and the pattern has come to represent the eternity of the soul.

The blessing which runs around the design “A blessing on the hearth, a blessing on the home” is translated from the original Gaelic and the whole makes a lovely and appropriate gift for a new home.

Dimensions: 10.4cm x 10.4cm

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Dear House

KIND AND DEAR IS THE OLD HOUSE HERE

Who can resist anything to do with William Morris, the driving force behind the emerging Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century in Britain? As well as being an extraordinarily versatile designer and original thinker, Morris wrote poetry. This quote comes from a piece intended for his new house at Kelmscot in Gloucestershire which was embroidered by his wife Jane into the hangings in their bedroom.

The wind’s on the wold
And the night is a-cold,
And Thames runs chill
Twixt mead and hill, but kind and dear
Is the old house here, and my heart is warm
Midst winter’s harm
Rest then and rest....

The quote forms a ribbon laid on a design based on Morris’s “Bird” woven wool fabric of 1878. Here uniquely will you find both words and a design of William Morris in one piece. A lovely gift.

Dimensions: 10.2cm x 10.2cm

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Fortuna Domus

STAT FORTUNA DOMUS

Of all the animals, the hare has perhaps always had the most intriguing and mystical qualities. For many, it has come to represent an intermediary between the physical and spiritual world.
This hare is based on a mosaic found by archaeologists in the floor of a Romano-Celtic villa in Cirencester.
Inscribed into the tile are the words, attributed to the classical poet Virgil, ‘Stat Fortuna Domus’ which can be translated as ‘Good Fortune to this House’. This combination of an actual Roman design with a Latin motto makes a perfect and unusual wall hanging for any house.

Dimensions: 10cm x 10cm

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Home Sweet Home

HOME SWEET HOME

This phrase was a favourite of our nineteenth century ancestors, often appearing on samplers and paintings in simple Victorian homes. Here it is incorporated into a charming house blessing.

Based on a glass model of the period, the design shows a typical little Victorian house, with trees, picket fencing and a cat on the doorstep. Fixed inside or outside the house, this Victorian tile would bring a warm nostalgic note to any home.

Dimensions: 9.7cm x 11cm

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Plenty & Grace

PLENTY & GRACE BE TO THIS PLACE

We saw this painted on a Tudor house beam in Shrewsbury Museum – “Plentie and Grace bi to this Place”. It had originally been found in a 17th century manor house in the Midlands.
Our ancestors often incorporated a benediction or blessing into their houses and this permanent medium of high-fired terracotta makes it possible for us to do so again today.

The text is set into a richly detailed frame surmounted by a little angel’s head, based on a 17th century cartouche. This wall decor would add a grace note to the entrance of any home and makes the perfect house warming present.

Dimensions: 10.2cm x 10.5cm

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Somerset Blessing

PEACE TO THIS PLACE

Stylised vine leaves can be seen to form a cross in the centre of this design, which comes from a carved 16th century bench end in Crowcombe Church in the Quantock Hills, Somerset.
The Latin phrase ‘Pax Huic Domini’ – ‘Peace of the Lord be to this place’ is carved in stone into a farmhouse high in the Mendip Hills also in Somerset.

The two ideas come together to form a unique design which we call the Somerset Blessing. Displayed near the front door, or perhaps built into a wall, this house plaque will make a very attractive addition to any home. And it makes a perfect house-warming gift.

Dimensions: 10cm x 10cm

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Tudor Rose

GRACE BE TO THIS PLACE

The Tudor Rose, combining as it does the white rose of Yorkshire and the red rose of Lancaster, symbolised the unification of England after the Wars of the Roses finished in 1485. Henry Tudor was crowned King Henry VII of England on 30th October 1485 at Westminster Abbey.
The Tudor Rose became the badge of the Tudor kings and queens, and was used in paintings, embroideries and carvings all over the country throughout the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries.
Written into the petals is a lovely traditional house blessing ‘Grace to this Place.’

Our ancestors often incorporated a benediction or blessing into their houses and this permanent medium of high-fired terracotta makes it possible for us to do so again today.

Dimensions: 10.7cm

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Parva Domus

PARVA DOMUS MAGNA QUIES

Translated as "Small House, Great Peace". The phrase is engraved into the tile and surrounded with a garland of juniper berries and leaves.

Whether this phrase was first seen on a building from classical times, we don’t know. We first saw it carved into stone outside the Organist’s House near Exeter Cathedral. The tile makes a lovely present for someone “down sizing” into a smaller home – or perhaps moving into retirement apartments or sheltered housing. We once had a hopeful grandparent who bought this tile to give to her grandson for his new student lodgings! We never heard the results.

Dimensions: 10.2cm x 8.8cm

New for May 2010 - Revised Version

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Pax Huic (Baroque)

PAX HUIC

Translated as "Peace to this place". Latin is a succinct language which is one of the reasons that we often still use it today. Here just these two words carry a whole house blessing.
The lovely town of Bruges in Belgium has many heraldic devices and decorative cartouches carved into the walls of 17th and 18th century merchants’ houses. This tile uses one of these designs to surround the engraved phrase.
An excellent and unusual present for a new home.

Dimensions: 11cm x 9.2cm

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