Bon Ton handmade tile

If you took this 1914 illustration by George Barbier from the pages of La Gazette du Bon Ton and reinterpreted it as handmade tile nearly 100 years later, the result would be something like Bon Ton Designs in Minneapolis.

I first saw Bon Ton Designs on the change show Coverings years in the past and those poppies have haunted me ever due to the fact that.

Mary Anderson is a tile artist. Kurt Anderson is her husband and business manager. Together, they operate the studio Bon Ton Designs. Mary's designs are original as are her glazes. All of her work is made to order from an extensive catalog and she embraces the opportunity to create truly custom, one-of-a-kind work as well.

You can see the Art Deco, Art Nouveau, Arts and Crafts and Modernist influences on her work, but each of those influences is just that, an influence. Mary's work is clearly a product of now and she pays respectful homage to the great designers of the past. Call it what you will, but I call it art.