Solon and Schemmel Tile Company (S&S) was a

tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...

pottery business in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

from 1920 – 1936. The company's tiles adorn Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco and the

Hearst Castle Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada ( Spanish for "The Enchanted Hill"), is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his arc ...

San Simeon, California San Simeon ( Spanish: ''San Simeón'', meaning "St. Simon") is an unincorporated community on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles and San ...

. Other projects included tiles for the Orpheum and Junior Orpheum theaters in Los Angeles, the

Mark Hopkins Hotel The InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco is a luxury hotel located at the top of Nob Hill, San Francisco, Nob Hill in San Francisco, California. The hotel is managed by the InterContinental Hotels Group. The chain operates over 5,000 hot ...

, Central Classroom Building at

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

, Y.M.C.A. buildings in San Diego and Honolulu, the Dollar Steamship Line building at Portland, Oregon, the Oakland and Berkeley war memorials. and the Frank P. Williams House in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

. Their tiles were used by

Helen Bell Bruton Helen Bell Bruton (February 7, 1898 – November 16, 1985) was an American printmaker, mosaic muralist and painter. Biography She was the daughter of Daniel Bruton (1839–1928) and Helen Bell Bruton (1866–1956). Daniel and Helen Bell mar ...

and her sister Margaret Bruton to create the Fleishhacker Zoo (currently

San Francisco Zoo The San Francisco Zoo and Gardens is a zoo located on the West Side (San Francisco), West Side of San Francisco, in the southwestern corner of the city between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway. The zoo's main entrance (o ...

) Mother’s House mosaics. The business was eventually subsumed into ''Stonelight Tile'' and is one of the only major California tile manufacturers from the 1920s to have survived to the present.

History

Albert Solon (1887-1949) immigrated from England to the U.S. in 1912. He studied at San Jose Normal School (later San Jose State University). He was employed as the pottery director at Arequipa Sanatorium in Fairfax, a ceramic therapy program for tuberculosis patients, before moving to San Jose and teaching ceramics at the San Jose Normal School. September 11, 1996 Willow Glenn Resident In 1920, he joined with Schemmel to found S&S tiles Solon designed the tiles and Schemmel headed the business. Both men lived in Willow Glen during the 1930s and 40s. Their work for Willow Glen sites included Willow Glen Theater (demolished)) and the façades of homes on Telfer Avenue, Kotenberg Avenue and Willow Glen Way. Schemmel retired in 1936 and Solon joined up with Paul Larkin. They changed the company name to Solon & Larkin and worked together until Solon retired in 1947. Schemmel died in 1950. Four friends from UC-Berkeley took over the company in 1953 and changed the name from the Larkin Tile Company to Stonelight Tile. They owned the company until 1979. It was bought by David Anson.

Solon's family

Albert Solon came from a family with a long history in ceramics. He was the grandson of Léon Arnoux, art director of

Mintons Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, ...

Limited, and son of Marc-Louis-Emmanuel Solon, a French porcelain artist who became well known for his

pâte-sur-pâte ''Pâte-sur-pâte'' is a French term meaning "paste on paste". It is a method of porcelain decoration in which a relief design is created on an unfired, unglazed body, usually with a coloured body, by applying successive layers of (usually) white ...

technique during his tenure at

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

, England. Albert's eldest brother, Leon Solon (1872-1957), worked as artistic director and designer at the American Encaustic Tiling Company in New York from 1912 to 1925, where Paul Solon (1883-?) also worked. Camille A. Solon (1877-1960), a muralist and ceramist, worked with architect

Julia Morgan Julia Morgan (January 20, 1872 – February 2, 1957) was an American architect and engineer. She designed more than 700 buildings in California during a long and prolific career.Erica Reder"Julia Morgan was a local in ''The New Fillmore'', 1 Febr ...

doing painting and tile work for the private libraries and indoor pools of William Randolph Hearst's mansions and estates in

San Simeon San Simeon ( Spanish: ''San Simeón'', meaning "St. Simon") is an unincorporated community on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles and San ...

. Gilbert Solon (1879-1929) worked at the Royal Worcester Porcelain Co. Ltd. in

Worcester, England Worcester ( ) is a cathedral city in Worcestershire, England, of which it is the county town. It is south-west of Birmingham, north of Gloucester and north-east of Hereford. The population was 103,872 in the 2021 census. The River Severn f ...

.Stonelight Tile website

References

External links

*{{official, https://stonelighttile.com 1920 establishments in California 1936 disestablishments in California Manufacturing companies based in San Jose, California Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Ceramics manufacturers of the United States Solon family History of San Jose, California

History

Solon's family

See also

References

Further reading

External links