clé Unveils Chinoiserie Hand-Painted Porcelain Tiles

clé  is pleased to introduce Chinoiserie, their new collection of hand painted porcelain tile. Designed by Deborah Osburn, the bespoke collection is a collaboration with a traditional chinoiserie artisan studio in China. The fine china porcelain is decorated with the historic iconography of fantastical chinoiserie images. Song birds, cherry blossoms, chrysanthemums, pomegranates, and butterflies are hand painted from the lexicon of chinoiserie imagery. The Chinoiserie tiles can be created as large as 3 ft. x 6.5 ft. and decorated with the charming flora, fauna, provincial, and dynastic scenes that inspired Europe’s original fascination with chinoiserie in the 18th century.

The whimsical and intricate motifs are painted in china paints and triple fired, which provides a luster and reflective depth to the tile. The diffused background field colors are available in Winterberry Red, Absinthe Green, Serenity Blue, Teal, Poached Pear, Platinum, and Dusk.

Osburn remembers, “The first time I encountered a room cloaked in hand painted silk chinoiserie–the space felt transcendent. For years, I’ve dreamed of a collection of chinoiserie porcelain panels for spaces like kitchen backsplashes and bathrooms, where silk cannot be tolerated because of water and heat. We’ve discovered an original vein of porcelain clay that dates from antiquity and the artists who have transformed it for generations with their masterful painting techniques. When I experienced the first enchanting tile samples, I was transported, just like the first time I stood in that ravishing room.”