Stove tile

Description

The Winterthur type of tower stove did not become established in Basle and its surroundings. However, its characteristic shape made a late and splendid appearance in the guildhouses of the guilds 'zu Schmieden' (smiths) and 'zum Schlussel' (merchants). On 3 December 1884 the latter ordered from the Allschwil ceramic factory, owned by the Passavant brothers, a mighty tower stove in the Winterthur style, to be erected on the ground floor of their guildhall in Freiestrasse. Beforehand, however, the decorative painter Ludwig Schwehr Müller had been required to produce a number of sample tiles for the varied historical programme. The Historisches Museum acquired three large pictorial tiles from the factory that are probably some of these trial pieces. Among them is one, painted in strict Winterthur style, that represents the handing over of the city of Basle to Rudolf of Hapsburg in 1273, in reverse after an illustration by Johann Senn (Liestal 1780 1861). The stove itself can still be seen in its original setting in the Zunfthaus zum Schlüssel, which is now a restaurant.