a fireplace with green fireplace tiles on the front of it

Zeb Rudolph, Lucretia Garfield's father lived with his daughter and her family in their Mentor home from 1880 to his death in 1897. His bedroom on the second floor of the house features a wonderful Eastlake-style fireplace decorated with ceramic tiles in a glossy green glaze by Low Art Tile works. The two corner squares feature reliefs of a man (prophet with hat) and woman in profile. Low Art Tile Works, located in Chelsea, Massachusetts, was founded in 1877 by John Gardner Low and his father, John Low. Their tiles graced fireplace surrounds, soda fountains, cast iron stoves, and a multitude of other products. The company made some of the finest ceramic tiles ever produced in the United States. Between 1878 and 1904, Low tiles were displayed in more than eighteen distributor showrooms around the United States, Canada, and Britain. For all of the 1880’s and the early years of the 1890’s the art tiles sold in large numbers.

• Keywords: fireplace