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temple corner tile

by annette
(dover uk)

hi peter i was given two of these one has broken ,but repairable and motif intact this is the complete one ,can you tell me its age ,the story was my aunt whil worked and lived in china in the 70s .was passing a demolished temple that was being torn down to make way for a new building she spotted them intact and took them home and gave them to me ,any info greatly apreciated ,i cannot find anything like it on the net .thank you annette

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tile
by: peter

I have never seen this type. All Chinese tiles I have seen on temple roofs, etc. were glazed.
They were made with red clay and then glazed in color. Those of normal houses were just red clay.
I know unglazed tiles with a gray color like these only from non-Chinese roofs. In that case the old tiles look as if sand or something else was added.
But with this one there is another possibility. Are you sure it is gray clay fired in a kiln? Its color makes it appear as if it could be concrete poured into a mold. But it is difficult to tell what it really is from pictures only. Did you scratch a tile in an inconspicuous place to see if it is clay? If it is fired clay, it will be low-fired and it should be easy to scratch it.
temple corner tile
by: annette

will upload another photo .have you any idea of its age .thank you
roof tile
by: peter

A side view might show whether it would be from the corner or another place. Chinese temples often have roofs using two or more types of tiles. The only that can be said with this picture is that it is probably either a part from the lower edge of the roof or the gable.

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