On the tiles at Russell Square tube station

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I have spotted maker's marks on tiled walls. For instance, above street level, Doulton of Lambeth employed various impressions as per this collection I pulled together almost 12 years ago (I have since found many more) but, until last week I had never seen anything similar on the Underground network.

I use Russell Square station quite often. It is a Lesley Green design, one of many that opened c1906 with ox-blood exteriors and beautifully-tiled and colour-coded connecting tunnels and platforms. I suspect it's because I get distracted by the gorgeous colours and the lovely hand-painted letters that I hadn't noticed this maker's mark:

The image on the left shows the exit tunnel from the westbound platform, but viewed as if coming from the lift. As you can see, there is an impression within a single tile on the left hand side. Here's a close-up:

G. Woolliscroft & Co was a floor tile maker, but there doesn't appear to be any remains of the Melville Road premises where these tiles would have been made. I wonder if Woolliscroft produced the tiles that line all other stations along the Piccadilly Line. If so, it was a huge commission! Seems more likely that quite a few companies in the Staffordshire Potteries area would have been working together on this project, with some companies making the tiles and others adding the colours, doing the glazing and firing. 

Hold the front page!!!! - Dougrose has written this piece about the tile makers although, annoyingly he doesn't identify where any marks tiles can be found, so I will henceforth be keeping my eyes peeled for more evidence – let me know if you see any.