Henry Chapman Mercer

The Pennsylvania State Capitol Building Moravian Tile Floor

The largest artwork in the Pennsylvania State Capitol Building is the tile floor designed and made

by Henry Chapman Mercer of Doylestown.It covers 16,000 square feet!

Mercer apprenticed himself to a local potter to learn the trade.He felt that the tiles should use local clay and be made by hand.

“It is the life of the people,” Mercer wrote.

Some of the mosaic tiles depict scenes from everyday

life.

Some of the tiles show inventions and

tools.

What are some modern inventions that Mercer could

add if he were alive today?

Many of the tiles depict the animals that are native to

Pennsylvania.

Tiles produced at the Moravian Tile Works.