Hans van Lemmen taught for many years at Leeds Metropolitan University and is an established author on the history of tiles and architectural ceramics, and has lectured on the subject in Britain and abroad. He has written or co-written many books on ceramics including 'Victorian Tiles', 'Twentieth Century Tiles' and 'Architectural Ceramics' all for Shire, He is Chairman of the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society.

At the turn of the last century, Art Nouveau, characterised by its richly ornamental curvilinear design and use of sinuous line and vibrant colour, held sway as the dominant style in architecture and design - a style that defined the Edwardian period, with its departure from more formal Victorian styles. This book charts the impact of this sensuous new style on the tile industry in Britain, showing how tiles were made and decorated, and using photographs of tiles, individually and in situ, to examine the diverse range of floral, animal and human subject matter found on Art Nouveau tiles that make them now so appealing to collectors and design historians.