This cockerel tile is one of a group of bird designs — including Cock, Duck and Goose — probably designed by Philip Webb in the 1860s for Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. The series also included Heron, Hen and Chick, and Magpie. The tiles are hand-painted in blue overglaze on 6-inch tiles.
The bird designs were also adapted for stained-glass quarries in the first two houses designed by Philip Webb: Red House, Bexleyheath (1859–60), built for William Morris, and Sandroyd, Surrey (1860–61).
The tiles formerly belonged to Lucy Orrinsmith (née Faulkner) and were almost certainly painted by her or by her sister, Kate Faulkner.
