Ralph's response makes a lot of sense (NYers ought to be familiar with the older subway station walls), and was quite instructive in the need for special handling of the glass tiles -- but -- I'm still curious -- were you looking at glass tiles or glassy ceramic tiles? Some clay tiles of the late 19th C were fabricated in a method that is rarely used today -- dry dust-pressed tile -- that allowed those sharp edges; and glazes with (now-banned) highly toxic ingredients were commonly used, capable of producing surface effects otherwise hard to achieve. (I once needed reproductions and got directed to a company in England still doing things "the old-fashioned way.") So, was it subway glass? Bruce Popkin > -----Original Message----- > From: Met History [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 1:45 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: The old, "glassy" tile.... > > Why, physically or chemically, is old tile (c. 1895-1930) so different > from > "modern" tile, even so-called "period" repro-tile (at least what I have > seen > in tile stores). > > The older tile has a transparent, glassy surface, with much greater > translucence. And it has those nice, sharp-right-angle edges (which > require > very tight joints), instead of the curved-in edges (which gives setters a > lot > of room to fudge). > > Christopher Gray > Office for Metropolitan History > 246 West 80th Street, #8, NYC 10024 > 212-799-0520 fax -0542 > e: [log in to unmask]