RARE, UNUSED ENFIELD “LAUGHING FAUN” FOUNTAINHEAD

The Enfield Pottery and Tile Works was incorporated in 1906 in Enfield, Pennsylvania, where they operated until about 1936. The company executed tiles for installations in the Detroit Institute of Arts designed by Philadelphia architect Paul Cret and, most famously, special polychrome tiles for the monumantal grilles and floors of Florida’s Bok Memorial Carillon Tower designed by Milton Medary (Philadelphia, 1874-1929).

Some Enfield designs were reproduced from antique examples, but a 1928 catalogue lists this “LD-26 Pastel (unglazed) buff Laughing Faun” as “original.” The president of Enfield, Joseph Allen, was also a designer at the pottery, so this faun fountain mask could be his.

The mask has an opening for a water spout in the faun’s mouth. It has never been installed so the condition is mint. It is 9 inches high and 9 inches wide.