Hospital picture tiles

Hand-painted picture tiles were used to decorate hospitals and other healthcare institutions from the 1870s until the 1920s–30s when hospital designs and building materials changed. Many children's wards were decorated with panels of tiles of nursery rhymes and fairy tales which provided entertainment for sick children. A range of other subjects were depicted on tiles. Preservation of tiles as hospital buildings were renovated or demolished proved difficult and many picture tiles have been lost. Some hospitals in England and New Zealand have been able to preserve their tiles.