Published on ANTIQUE GARDEN ORNAMENT by Barbara Israel, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers.

Edging tiles like these, decorated with classical motifs, were made by French and British manufacturers. The device of a stylized flower on top of pair volutes derives from antefix, an ancient Greek, Etruscan and Roman roof ornament. The purpose of such endging was to add a decorative boundary to a flower bed and to contain the spread of plants such as this pachysandra.