So I pondered if it is in some way connected to a similar building in Upper Street, N1, which also features faces within roundels that are extremely similar:
The building also includes a portrait of Hugh Myddleton, the driving force behind The New River. Perhaps it was designed by the same architect or, more likely seeing as there are many terracotta buildings across London, it was just a standard style and these portrait reliefs, roundels and and other stick-on details were readily available to buy off-the-shelf from the local architectural mouldings emporium...?
