This handsome Minton-Hollins Art Tile measures 6" square by 3/8" thick. It is a hand-painted scene of a familiar Asian motif in which a man is surprised by a wild boar in a bamboo grove. The boar features prominently in Japanese culture, where it is widely seen as a fearsome and reckless animal, to the point that several words and expressions in Japanese referring to recklessness include references to boars. The boar is the last animal of the oriental zodiac, with people born during the year of the Pig being said to embody the boar-like traits of determination and impetuosity. Among Japanese hunters, the boar's courage and defiance is a source of admiration, and hunters and mountain people not uncommonly name their sons after the animal. The back side of this tile is marked 'Minton, Hollins, & Co; Patent Tile Works, Stoke on Trent P.C.W.'. It is glazed in very handsome complementary colors over a soft ivory ground. The glazes remain quite vibrant at over 130+ years, and they are fired glazes, not cold-painted. This tile is in very good condition with just minor edge surface chips/nicks as can be in the photos. There are no cracks or other blemishes.