NO other like material presents better opportunities for gratifying the desire to embellish and beautify our homes, than the use of Encaustic Tiles. They are made of powdered clay from which all foreign substances have been removed; usually they are in squares varying from one to eight inches; some styles are oblong, others triangular.

Clay can be colored all tints; and the same block, by means of stamps and presses, may have a perfect and pleasing figure of two or more colors. When properly pressed and burnt, these tiles are very serviceable, and when the additional work of glazing is put on, they are well-nigh as durable as stone for the purposes intended.

Whether required for the floors or walls of vestibules, or the ornamentation of hearths and mantels, as well as for other purposes of decoration, their endless variety, their various shades and colors, combine in forming a material suited to purposes of ornament, and as durable as beautiful.